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May 9, 2008 8:57 am US/Pacific
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Paparazzi To Face Boundaries, Be Taxed In Malibu?
MALIBU
Malibu officials are asking Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Clinton's involvement with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, to craft restrictions on paparazzi, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Malibu officials are concerned about the growing presence of celebrity photographers in the city. Merchants have complained about photographers blocking store, business and restaurant entrances.
Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich told The Times that she asked Starr, the dean of Pepperdine University's law school, to convene a group of experts in the media and legal community to help draft a city ordinance that might include "buffer zones" at certain locations, as well as a possible tax on the paparazzi."
"We're coming up on another summer season. Let's hope we are not in store for another tsunami of paparazzi," Ulich said.
Ulich told The Times that residents are also concerned about paparazzi following celebrities home after they pick up their kids from school.
But Peter Eliasberg, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said that efforts to target the media, including the paparazzi, could infringe on 1st Amendment rights.
"I hope that Dean Starr and the committee recognize existing laws are sufficient to address the problem," Eliasberg told The Times. "To the extent that there's problems, it's an enforcement problem not a lack of laws problem."
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)