Las Vegas City Council Tables Under-21 Proposed Curfew for Fremont Street

Posted on: August 4, 2022, 09:07h. 

Last updated on: August 4, 2022, 12:25h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A proposed, tougher curfew for Fremont Street failed to get consideration from the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday. Critics of Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s proposal supported the council’s decision to hold off on the controversial ordinance.

Unless Goodman or a city council member resubmits the proposal, it remains dead, KSNV, a local TV station, reported.

The curfew would have applied to those under 21 years of age. It would have impacted the area around the Fremont Street Experience (FSE) in Downtown Las Vegas.

Its boundaries would have included Ogden Avenue on the north, 8th Street on the east, Carson Avenue on the south, and Main Street on the west, according to a city council tweet.

Goodman came up with the idea after meeting with local government, police, and business leaders. A fatal shooting took place at the FSE in June. Two males have been arrested. Another shooting took place there in July.

Security Upped After Recent Shootings

Both the FSE and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) upped security in the area after the violent incidents.

“We will continue to evaluate and review the positive impacts that the added security has already had at Fremont Street Experience,” an official city council Twitter post said on Wednesday.

Critics of the plan appeared pleased following the announcement the tougher curfew for the FSE area was dead on arrival.

“The ACLU was against this, and they were probably right,” Vital Vegas’ Scott Roeben tweeted on Wednesday.

It’s a simplistic, knee-jerk response to isolated incidents of asshattery, unlikely to accomplish anything,” Vital Vegas commented.

Las Vegas already has in place a limited curfew for those under 18.

The new curfew would have prohibited those between 18 and 20 years old from being on or near Fremont Street between 9 pm and 5 am daily.

ACLU Lambasts Proposal

“This is the city’s most recent attempt to try to privatize a public street,” the ACLU of Nevada said in an earlier statement. The civil liberties organization also called it a “radical proposal” that violates the First and 14^th amendments to the US Constitution.

While presented under the guise of public safety, neither the city of Las Vegas nor Fremont Street have provided any data to date to demonstrate an enhanced public safety threat from those between the ages of 18 and 21.”

“Those who are between the ages of 18 and 21 are legal adults who have the same First Amendment right to access public spaces as those who are over the legal drinking and gambling age,” ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said in a statement. “Is the city really under the belief that a sober 20-year-old walking on Fremont Street is inherently more dangerous than a drunk 21-year-old?

“This proposal is yet another absurd attempt by the city to pretend it is solving public safety issues when in reality, this is just another attempt to turn a public forum into a private casino courtyard,” Haseebullah added.

The ACLU threatened court action if the new curfew was enacted.

Even though the Las Vegas Arts District had recent shootings, it was not included in the area earmarked for the tougher curfew, and some local business owners did not want the area under a tougher curfew.

Casino.org reached out to Goodman spokesman Jace Radke for comment.

In an emailed statement, he said the city council “actually voted to strike that item from the agenda yesterday.

“The enhanced security measures that the Fremont Street Experience has put in place, plus additional officers on the experience from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Deputy City Marshals, have had positive impacts. Due to this, the City Council decided not to move forward with the curfew ordinance at this time so that the safety enhancements that are in place can be fully evaluated.”