Newspaper company sues city over distribution limits
By Leah McBride Mensching, Monday 10 March 2008 at 22:33 :: Press Freedom & Laws :: #1382 :: rss
A newspaper company that distributes in Plano, Texas, is suing Plano over an ordinance that allows the city to prohibit the distribution of printed materials if residents complain, The Dallas Morning News reported Monday.
The lawsuit brought on by Addison, Texas-based American Community Newspapers, will soon head to a federal appeals court, in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
A federal district judge dismissed the suit in February, but the company filed an appeal Thursday. Experts say the concepts at stake could have broad First Amendment ramifications, over free speech and privacy, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“This has been one of the most consistent clashes in First Amendment law, especially today when information is so easy to come by,” David L. Hudson, an attorney for the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, told The Dallas Morning News.
The city ordinance prohibits people from distributing printed literature door-to-door to homes that display “no soliciting” or similar signs, and requires people who want to distribute commercial materials to file for permits with the city. Violators can be fined up to US$500.
Last year, Plano issued 343 permits and wrote 21 tickets for violations, police officer Rick McDonald told The Dallas Morning News.
In 2006, American community Newspapers challenged the law that aimed to cut down on litter, crime and unwelcome solicitations, after residents complained the company distributed two of its publications, the Plano Star Courier and the Plano Insider, to homes that did not want them. The Star Courier has 5,000 subscribers and is sometimes sent to non-subscribers in hopes of gaining more readers, Bill Weaver, who heads up 16 local publications for the company.
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