NEWPORT BEACH : City to Vote on Cover for Explicit Materials
The City Council will vote Monday on whether to adopt an ordinance that requires blinder racks on sexually explicit materials sold within the city at grocery stores, drugstores and other retail outlets.
The proposed ordinance says that various magazines such as Playboy or Penthouse cannot be displayed publicly without a plastic coat or blinder rack that blots out the bottom two-thirds of the cover. City officials say there has been a proliferation of adult material in the city that must be shielded from minors, according to a report written by City Atty. Robert Burnham.
Mayor Clarence J. Turner said the city was “going about as far as we can possibly go without limiting people’s right to . . . freedom of the press.”
There is already a similar blinder ordinance on the books that applies to sidewalk newspaper boxes that contain information about escort agencies and usually have a provocative photo on the cover, said Robin Flory, assistant city attorney.
Violation of the ordinance would be a misdemeanor. The City Council will set the penalties if it approves the ordinance, police said.
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