Windshield Ads Get Final Notice in Santa Monica

County residents have long complained that flyers are a nuisance. Advertisers, on the other hand, see them as an easy and relatively inexpensive way to get their messages across.

Apparently anticipating a potential legal challenge to the law, city attorneys said in a staff report that the city's authority to regulate the distribution of commercial flyers falls under its power to reduce litter.

Free to Hand Out

Although a complete ban on the distribution of all political, religious and commercial leaflets could be interpreted as a violation of First Amendment rights, a partial ban on the placement of flyers on unattended vehicles would not be considered unconstitutional because leaflet distributors would still be free to hand their materials to passers-by on the street, the staff report stated.

The attorneys cited a 1984 Supreme Court case that upheld a Los Angeles law against hanging flyers on utility and light poles. In its decision, the court distinguished between the right to free expression through handing materials to passers-by and the right to leave similar material "unattended until removed."