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Photo by Happy Birthday to Joe Shlabotnik! via Flickr
Two brawls between surfers and paparazzi over the weekend are leading Malibu officials to look more closely into the law regarding 1st amendment rights. "The city of Malibu will do all it legally can to protect and preserve the natural beauty and tranquillity of our town," Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said in a statement, per the LA Times.
Last month, the Times reported that Malibu was talking to Ken Starr of Clinton scandal fame and dean of the Pepperdine law school about "to help draft a city ordinance that might include 'buffer zones' at certain locations as well as a possible tax on the paparazzi."
After Britney Spears was given a $25,000 escort by the LAPD earlier this year, LA City Councilman Dennis Zine wanted to look into the possibility of a "safe zone" for celebrities. But even mainstream media jumped in saying it would possibly have effects on everything and LAPD Chief Bratton said the law was suffice to deal with any violations by paparazzi, an assertion the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who patrol Malibu, believe.
