Josh Wexler and Anne Jordan Blanton, recent graduates of New York University and veterans of, respectively, the Strand and East Village Books in New York City, are seeking to overturn or amend a New Orleans ordinance that has prevented them from getting a permit to sell used books and blank journals on the streets.
According to the lawsuit filed by the pro bono Institute for Justice on behalf of the couple, the city code allows permits to be issued to sell a wide range of items, but not books. Dana Berliner, attorney for the vendors, told PW, "It violates their rights to free speech under the First Amendment and their right to earn a living."
In the past, other states have struggled with the regulation of book sales on the street. In New York City, where some of the books sold on the street in the early 1990s were believed to be stolen, it was determined that street vendors may sell books as long as their wares are legally acquired. Regulators are also able to limit the amount of space vendors use and where they put their stands. Vendors are required to charge sales tax.
In the New Orleans case, Wexler and Blanton said they have no plans to sell new books. Their initial plans call for setting up a card table to sell used books from their own collections and those acquired from estate and library sales. They said they hope their card table full of books will become a "local fixture" and students can "expect to see them at a regular time every day."
Unique among the states, Louisiana has a legal system based on the Napoleonic Code, which can make some regulations labyrinthine. Berliner said, "We are seeking a declaration that the Code is unconstitutional on its face and as applied to book and journal vending, and an injunction preventing the city from enforcing that Code against Josh and [Anne] Jordan. The court cannot decide how New Orleans should write or rewrite its law. It can only declare the current law unconstitutional and tell the city it will have to figure out something else. Obviously, we hope the city will adopt a law that liberally allows vending of books and other goods, and only places limits that are necessary to protect public health and safety."
Rhoda Faust, owner of New Orleans' Maple Street Books, told PW, "New Orleans has a lot of book lovers, book buyers and readers. As far as per capita bookstores, we're still way, way under the national averages, and that's helped us stay in business. Should the law be changed? I would like to make sure it's a level playing field, before there's more competition."
Even if the would-be vendors win an injunction, there's no telling when the city will pass a new law permitting the street vending of books, thus leaving the two booksellers in legal limbo until a new law is passed.
