American Civil Liberties Union v. City of Las Vegas

We must decide whether city ordinances prohibiting solicitation and the erection of tables in a five-block tract of downtown Las Vegas unconstitutionally restrict free speech. We hold that they do.

I.

This case returns to our court for a third time. In 1997, non-profit organizations the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, the Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Committee, the Shundahai Network, and three of their members (collectively “Plaintiffs”) filed a complaint in federal district court for declaratory and injunctive relief. Relying on 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , Plaintiffs sought to enjoin the City of Las Vegas, the mayor of Las Vegas, the Fremont Street Experience Limited Liability Corporation (“FSELLC”), and the chief executive of FSELLC (collectively “Defendants” or “the City”) from enforcing several provisions of the Las Vegas Municipal Code (“LVMC”) that Plaintiffs believe unconstitutionally restrict their First and Four teenth Amendment rights to free speech and equal protection of the laws.

As we explained in ACLU v. City of Las Vegas, 333 F.3d 1092 (9th Cir.2003) (‘ACLU I”), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1110 , 124 S.Ct. 1077 , 157 L.Ed.2d 897 (2004), the ordinances that…