Federal Judge Refuses to Rule on Simi News-Rack Ordinance

Afederal judge refused Monday to rule on the constitutionality of a Simi Valley ordinance that requires news racks displaying sexually oriented material to be partially covered to protect minors.

U.S. District Judge Irving Hill dismissed a lawsuit maintaining that the city’s “blinder” ordinance is unconstitutional. He said he lacks authority to rule on the issue until a criminal case against Arthur Fishel, a distributor of sexually oriented newspapers, is settled in state court.

Hill cited a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case, Younger vs. Harris, which prohibits federal judges from interfering with state cases unless prosecutors have filed criminal charges in bad faith.

The judge’s ruling is “a stinging defeat” for Fishel, said Donald W. Cook, his lawyer.

In March, Fishel was charged with violating the city’s blinder ordinance by failing to partially shield from minors such adult publications as the Hollywood Press and Action. Fishel also was charged with failing to pay a permit fee of $30 for each of his 14 news racks.

Fishel pleaded not guilty to the charges and filed suit in federal court, saying the city’s blinder ordinance violates his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

But Cook said Fishel will refile the suit in Ventura Superior Court in the hope that a state court judge will strike down the ordinance.

The Simi Valley City Council passed the law in June. It requires that the bottom two-thirds of each news rack displaying adult publications be covered to protect minors.

Fishel’s trial on the misdemeanor charges is scheduled for May 9 in Ventura Municipal Court.