C-J litter: greedy capitalists vs. concerned environmentalist

This is an update on an issue that began a few months ago...

From Sean Rose in the C-J, news that a court has blocked the C-J's attempt to block an anti-litter law so they can make money distributing advertisements....

Free speech and press? That's funny or lame, depending on your angle...

A federal judge has rejected The Courier-Journal's effort to block enforcement of a Louisville anti-litter ordinance the newspaper says violates constitutional protections of free speech and the press.

In an opinion issued Friday, Judge Charles R. Simpson III concluded that "there is little likelihood that the Courier will succeed on the merits of its claims" in a lawsuit the newspaper filed after the Metro Council passed the ordinance in June.

The ordinance, which took effect in August, requires unsolicited print materials to be delivered to a specific place, like a porch or mailbox, rather than tossed on a lawn or driveway.

The ordinance affects anyone delivering fliers or other printed materials, but it was prompted by Courier-Journal advertising supplements. At the time the ordinance was adopted, the newspaper was delivering some 340,000 copies of the supplements weekly.

The ordinance does not apply to the newspaper itself, since it is delivered to subscribers....

Simpson, a judge for the Western District of Kentucky...wrote that the delivery restrictions only pose a financial — not a constitutional — challenge to The Courier-Journal....