The group filed a notice of appeal earlier this month, contesting U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey’s Sept. 25 ruling. The ordinance, known as the “Strip Selfie Ban,” prohibits stopping or standing in designated pedestrian-flow zones on Strip bridges and near the stairs, elevators and escalators that connect to them.

The ACLU argues the rules are too vague and could enable selective or discriminatory enforcement. Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said people should not have to wonder whether taking a photograph in a public space could expose them to criminal penalties.

Clark County says the restrictions protect public safety while preserving the public’s rights. County spokesperson Jennifer Cooper said the county welcomed the judge’s decision upholding the ordinance.

Dorsey found that the county had adequately explained why restrictions apply at all times, citing the difficulty of predicting when large crowds might gather for concerts, sporting events and conferences. She also noted that people may still stop on street-level sidewalks, which make up most of the resort corridor’s pedestrian system, and concluded the ordinance does not substantially burden speech or go further than needed to serve the county’s interests.

The county’s safety case relies in part on data about crowding and emergency calls. A study by UNLV criminal justice professor William Sousa found that pedestrian bridges account for less than 6% of the resort corridor’s sidewalk length but 11% of Metro Police “disorder” calls on the Strip. The ordinance also cites a 29% increase in calls for law enforcement services in the area, from 37,598 in 2018 to 48,358 in 2022. Officials have warned that the bridges’ narrow walkways and limited entrances and exits could make them vulnerable to dangerous crowd compression.

The ACLU disputes aspects of the county’s pedestrian studies and has challenged the admissibility of testimony from Metro Police officers and Sousa’s report. The group’s legal director, Christopher Peterson, said the bridge restrictions could limit a prominent and accessible place for demonstrations, pointing to past union marches and Black Lives Matter protests.

Clark County commissioners unanimously approved the ordinance in January 2024. Within the designated zones, stopping, standing or causing another person to stop or stand is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The rules exempt people who must wait to use nearby stairs, elevators or escalators, and do not penalize someone who unintentionally stops on a bridge because of picketing on a street-level sidewalk.

The ACLU sued the county in February 2024 on behalf of Lisa McAllister, a wheelchair user with a spinal cord condition, and street performer Brandon Summers. Another performer, Jordan Polovina, later joined the case. The lawsuit argues that the ordinance’s wording could cover people taking selfies and fails to accommodate activities such as holding political signs, in violation of the First and 14th Amendments.

The appeals court will now review the dispute over how the county may manage pedestrian flow on the bridges and where public-safety restrictions cross the line into limits on expression.