In yet another strike against the city of Las Vegas' attempt to control activity on the Fremont Street Experience, a federal court declined to rehear its earlier decision declaring a city ordinance unconstitutional.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the city's request for an 11-judge panel to hear the case.

"I think this is another victory for free speech on the streets and sidewalks of the Las Vegas Valley," said Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada. "While we're all in favor of the tourist industry, the tourist industry can't usurp basic constitutional rights."

The Fremont Street Experience, a private company made up of a consortium of downtown casinos, has been paying the legal expenses of the fight over free speech under the pedestrian mall's lighted canopy.

The city already hedged its bet after the court's ruling in October that found its ordinances unconstitutional.

The City Council then fast-tracked two new ordinances aimed at restricting behavior on the pedestrian mall, citing specific concerns about workers who hand out fliers for escort services.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic said at the time that the new ordinances more narrowly defined what type of speech is not allowed on Fremont Street and that he believed they would pass constitutional muster.

But Lichtenstein said his group believes the new ordinances are just as unconstitutional as the ones struck down by the 9th Circuit in October.

"The courts have spoken. The Fremont Street Experience is a public forum; speech cannot be curtailed based on the fact that the hotels think it's bad for business," he said. "Unless someone is creating a disturbance, they have a right to be out there."

The city could now petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, though that decision would be up to the City Council.