Editorial: Proposed bill on stealing newspapers long overdue

Tuesday, March 10, marked the one year anniversary of a controversial opinion piece which resulted in almost 3,000 copies of The Rebel Yell being thrown away.

Discarding thousands of copies of the newspaper is considered by many, including the American Civil Liberties Union, to be a form of censorship. UNLV Police, however, did not consider the act a crime and no investigation was launched. For those of us on staff, it was disheartening to see that no laws prohibited such a heinous act against free speech.

That may soon change.

Bill AB-257, which is being proposed in the Nevada Legislature, would make taking more than 10 copies of a free newspaper like The Rebel Yell a misdemeanor.

Many people have a hard time understanding that a free publication can be stolen at all. Though it might seem oxymoronic on the surface, reason shows that the problem does not stem from the meaning of the word free. The problem develops when copies of a newspaper are stolen for reasons other than what it is intended for.

The bill is an attempt to punish censorship – whether intended or not. There is rarely a good explanation for taking more than 10 copies of a newspaper, even if it is free.

Regardless of whether people take a large number of free newspapers for the sake of censoring material within those pages, recycling them for money, using them as insulation or to make paper maché floats, taking them still hinders others’ access to the information within the publications’ pages. Such information is often necessary for individuals to make informed decisions regarding their personal lives, community and government.

To critics who would argue that there are bigger problems in the world than the theft of free papers, remember that the First Amendment is part of the foundation on which this country is built. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, and disagreement with an article should not empower individuals to vandalize or trash the newspapers without harsh punishment and a reminder of the fact that the First Amendment seeks to protect unpopular minorities.  Without provisions to protect free press, democracy would fall apart.

Freedom of speech is meant to protect all speech, especially when it is unpopular. If throwing away unpopular publications is a form of censorship, then throwing away newspapers, even if they are free, must be criminalized. Censorship must not be tolerated and bill AB-247 is a step in the right direction.

The Rebel Yell thanks Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen for proposing the bill and strongly encourages all members of the state legislature to support it.