1st amendment is null and void in Hawaii too!!!!!! Will the City of Tempe pass a law like this to get rid of the homeless people that sell stuff on mill avenue in the Peoples Republic of Tempe??? Original Article Posted: Wednesday, December 21st, 2005 7:34 PM HST Council votes to ban Waikiki street performers By Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) _ The Honolulu City Council has passed a bill that would ban street performers in the center of Waikiki for three hours each night. The bill passed in a seven-to-two vote yesterday and will now be sent to Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. The measure would make it illegal for people to perform from seven p-m to ten p-m on Kalakaua Avenue between Lewers Street and Uluniu Avenue. But Hannemann says he wants to meet with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has threatened to sue the city if the bill is signed into law. The A-C-L-U argues the measure would violate First Amendment rights. Hannemann says he will try to reach an agreement with the group to prevent a lawsuit. Waikiki business owners and residents who asked council members to pass the measure complained that performers pose a risk to public health and safety by clogging sidewalks. The ban also received support from police officers and the Waikiki Neighborhood Board. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051221/NEWS04/512210348/1008/NEWS Posted on: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 Bill puts limits on street shows By Robbie Dingeman Advertiser Staff Writer Felix Wesley is among those affected by a Council bill that bans street performances in Waikiki from 7 to 10 each night. Waikiki street performers would be banned from a four-block stretch of Kalakaua Avenue for three hours each night, under a bill approved yesterday by the City Council. Merchants and other supporters of the regulation say crowds around the mimes and musicians push pedestrians into the streets, creating a public safety hazard. But the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i said the proposed ban from 7 to 10 nightly on Kalakaua between Lewers Street and Uluniu Avenue violates the performers' First Amendment rights. ACLU executive director Lois Perrin has said the organization will sue if Mayor Mufi Hannemann allows such a ban to become law. Hannemann said he's planning to meet with Perrin to see if a compromise could be reached that would allow the performers to continue. "The ball's in my court," Hannemann said. The council voted 7-2 yesterday for the bill. Council members Nestor Garcia and Barbara Marshall voted no. Councilman Charles Djou, whose district includes Waikiki, introduced the measure, saying he's concerned about pedestrian safety on the crowded sidewalks. Merchants, police and the Waikiki Neighborhood Board supported the limits. The ACLU, a number of street performers and others opposed it. Djou said the city could be sued for not taking action about the crowded sidewalks. Jon Mitchell, who performs on the street as "the Copper Cowboy," questioned the council's priority in cracking down on street performers while allowing other problems to continue in Waikiki. "Prostitutes in Waikiki can parade around, openly flirt and solicit men on the main street of Waikiki, the boardwalk, but a young girl is not allowed to play her violin," Mitchell said. Hannemann has 10 working days after the bill reaches his desk to decide if he will allow it to become law or veto it. Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com http://starbulletin.com/2005/12/22/editorial/editorial01.html Mayor is right to seek compromise on performers' ban CITY Councilman Charles Djou's certainty that a ban on sidewalk performers in Waikiki will draw a lawsuit makes Mayor Hannemann's effort to find a compromise all the more important. Failing that, Hannemann should veto the measure that the Council has approved and help to craft another that would protect pedestrians and the rights of performers. In view of a 2001 state court ruling that declared a similar ordinance unconstitutional, the bill Djou has championed as a safety issue will likely meet the same fate. The new measure outlaws people who juggle, sing, play musical instruments or strike a pose from doing so between 7 and 10 p.m. daily along a five-block span of Kalakaua Avenue from Lewers Street to Uluniu. Djou contends that safety is foremost in the bill because crowds that gather to watch performers often force other pedestrians to step into the street to get around them. Complaints from retailers and other merchants that performers and their audiences interfere with their businesses also factor in. The previous law was thrown out in a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ruling by Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall declared that it violated First Amendment rights to free speech and due process. ACLU warned that it would file suit against Djou's measure and had asked an expert on First Amendment issues to discuss the matter at a Council meeting scheduled for January. However, the bill was put on a fast track last week when a third committee hearing was waived, resulting in the Council's final vote in a special meeting held Tuesday. Djou waived the third reading because he did not believe the facts or testimony would change and that public safety warranted quick action. As to the lawsuit, Djou said the timing of the vote didn't matter. "The ACLU is going to sue us whether or not we do this in December, January or next year," he said. Hannemann, who questioned the need for a quick vote, hasn't said if he will veto the bill, but has suggested designating areas for performances where pedestrian safety and congestion would not be a worry. That might satisfy the legal concerns and fall in line with what Crandall said would be "less restrictive alternatives" for the Council to consider. The mayor says that while public safety is the overriding concern, he will scout out Waikiki and meet with the ACLU to find "common ground." Many tourists and residents enjoy the sidewalk performances, saying they add to the area's festive atmosphere. The city should be able to accommodate the entertainers while minimizing safety problems.