The city council Monday directed staff against pursuing a ban on
leafleting cars
– an idea to reduce litter – while citing the need to address
other priorities.
The city council Monday directed staff against pursuing a ban on leafleting cars – an idea to reduce litter – while citing the need to address other priorities.
A ban on leafleting cars parked in public places, meanwhile, also could have conflicted with a recent ruling by the 9th Circuit Court.
After a short discussion, the Hollister City Council directed the staff to drop any potential work on a citywide ban against leafleting of cars. Officials had been considering implementation of a ban to reduce litter.
Any proposed ban on leafleting cars in general would have been complicated by a recent 9th Circuit Court 3-0 decision. The judges in the Oct. 9 decision against the City of San Clemente ruled that placing leaflets on cars parked in public places was considered an exercise of free speech.
San Clemente had asserted an interest in “prohibiting litter and visual blight thereby preserving the aesthetics of the community,” according to the court document, but the judges ruled that this justification was insufficient to enforce the city’s leafleting ban.
Councilman Victor Gomez pointed out that reducing leafleting on vehicles parked on private property could be accomplished by contacting the property owner.
