The State - News from Jan. 25, 1987

The Alameda City Council adopted an ordinance aimed at keeping pornographic newspapers off the streets and out of the hands of children, and a lawyer representing a Berkeley-based sex tabloid said it set the stage for a major court confrontation. The ordinance broadens existing codes, restricting massage parlors and adult bookstores, to include newspaper vending machines. But Jim Chanin, attorney for The Spectator--which has four vending machines on the street in Alameda--said a Supreme Court decision permitting “dispersion” of massage parlors and adult bookstores has never before been applied to newspaper vending machines. “The difference is that we’re talking about newspapers here and the freedom of the press. We view this as an extremely dangerous infringement on the First Amendment,” he said.