MAHONING VALLEY Ruling on door-to-door visits won't matter much, officials say

An Ohio town's law was challenged as unconstitutional by members of Jehovah's Witnesses.
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A U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday limiting restrictions on door-to-door canvassing will have little effect on most local communities, officials say.
The court ruled that missionaries, politicians and others who go door-to-door with a message cannot be forced to first obtain a permit from the community they are in.
In many local communities, door-to-door solicitors are required to get a permit only if they are selling a product.
Policies in Poland Township, Boardman Township and the city of Canfield, for example, require such vendor's licenses.
Nonprofit groups, such as Scouts, and those who aren't peddling, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, are not required to get the permits.
Canfield City Manager Charles Tieche said the policy would apply to ice cream vendors, book sellers and salespeople knocking on doors uninvited with the idea of soliciting cash.
He said a religious group or someone handing out literature without asking for cash would not fall under the regulation.
Charity collections
While nonprofit groups such as Scouts or charities would not be required to get a permit, Tieche said, a person collecting for a charity might be asked to register so police and city officials would know they are legitimate.
In the village of Poland, for-profit vendors and nonprofits are required to register, but the fee is waived for nonprofit groups.
In Youngstown, those seeking funds, contributions, donations, pledges, subscriptions of money, property of any kind or value, or seeking information for such funds must first register with the mayor's office. Complete identification is required.
The person is issued a certificate, which they must display upon request.
Charities and youth groups are exempt.
The cities of Girard and Hubbard like to keep close tabs on those who sell door-to-door.
"Personally, I don't believe it's very practical," Girard Mayor James J. Melfi said of the ruling.
Those soliciting door-to-door have been required to first obtain a free permit from the Girard mayor's office.
It restricts soliciting hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Objection to ruling
"Many residents will feel unsafe," Melfi said, adding people demand greater time for themselves.
Like Girard, the city of Hubbard has a free permit issued by police.
Mayor George Praznik said the majority of those soliciting don't get a permit.
If there is a complaint about high-pressure sales, the mayor explained, police are called.
"We just don't want our people to get ripped," Praznik said.
Hubbard police said that if salespeople don't first get a permit, they are told to stop selling until they do.
In Columbiana County, officials in Columbiana and Leetonia said permits are required only if the person or groups going door-to-door are seeking donations or offering products or services for sale.
Niles Mayor Ralph A. Infante Jr. said such groups are required to register in that city.
"We never charge them," he said. "But at least the police knew who was here. It's more of an awareness thing."
Infante said the policy would have to be changed in light of the Supreme Court ruling.
Town's law
The court struck down a local law that leaders of the small Ohio town of Stratton said was meant to protect elderly residents from being bothered at home.
The law was challenged by the Jehovah's Witnesses as unconstitutional.
By a vote of 8-1, the court reasoned that the First Amendment right to free speech includes the entitlement to take a message directly to someone's door, and that the right cannot be limited by a requirement to register by name ahead of time.
Stratton is a town of fewer than 300 people near Wellsville and Toronto along the Ohio River.