by Brandon Summers | September 12, 2022
Street performers have been seeking help from the ACLU of Nevada for years, and it looks like help has arrived. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada recently filed a lawsuit against Fremont Street Experience LLC and the City of Las Vegas.
The ACLU of Nevada has been pushing back against policies that favor the speech of Fremont Street Experience while placing unconstitutional limits on the speech of all others. Most recently, Fremont Street Experience and the city of Las Vegas have gone to extremes in undercutting First Amendment protections by restricting adults aged 18 to 21 from entering the public forum via a special permit for an unadvertised and fictitious event created solely to create “an illusion of a valid time, place, and manner restriction, despite the fact that this curfew flies in the face of the Constitution and doesn’t satisfy any level of scrutiny.” – ACLU of Nevada Press Release | Read full statement here: https://www.aclunv.org/en/press-releases/aclu-nevada-challenges-first-amendment-violations-fremont-street-experience-city-las
In the lawsuit Gordon v. City of Las Vegas, the ACLU claims that City of Las Vegas and Fremont Street Experience LLC have worked hand-in-hand to undermine freedom of speech and expression. The complaint aims to seek relief from the 18-20 curfew and the lottery circle system— a system that came to be in 2016 when the City of Las Vegas and the ACLU collaborated to reign in on the chaotic environment of the boulevard. Kelvin Gordon is a contortionist who has performed on Fremont Street for 11 years. The other plaintiffs are adults under the age of 21 who have been denied entry into the area under the canopy.
Gordon v City of Las Vegas (PDF)
ACLU to sue city over Fremont Street curfew
Las Vegas Review-Journal
September 7, 2022
ACLU sues City of Las Vegas, Fremont Street Experience over age restrictions
Nevada Current
September 9, 2022
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Brandon Summers is a Las Vegas native, violinist, street performer, and advocate for spontaneous, unlicensed performance in public spaces. Summers has been busking for over ten years and has performed for Ciroc, Hudson Jeans, Netflix, JBL-Harman and many more. He is a graduate of Fort Valley State University where he majored in mathematics and holds BA in liberal studies.
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