Latest local news, weather and high school sports for Toledo area

The yellow pages used to sit by every telephone in every home.

But today...many of them wither on front porches in the sun and rain until someone, someday, decides to toss or recycle them.

In an effort to cut down on the number of wasted phone books, one city decided to crack down on the giant doorstops.

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a Seattle ordinance that required publishers to obtain permits and pay certain fees before delivering the often unwanted books was unconstitutional, and violated the 1st Amendment rights of the publishers, reports the Los Angeles Times.

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the ordinance that required publishers of the directories to obtain permits and pay fees before delivering the thick, heavy books to front porches and driveways.

The fees were supposed to pay for a program in which residents could opt out of receiving the books, but directory publishers said the regulations were unconstitutional.

“The Yellow Pages telephone directory was once a ubiquitous part of American life, found in virtually every household and office,” wrote Judge Richard R. Clifton. “But times have changed, and today phone books, like land-line telephones themselves, are not so universally accepted.”

But the court decided that phone books, much like newspapers, are and should be granted the protection guarantees of free-speech.

 “The 1st Amendment does not make protection contingent on the perceived value of certain speech,” the court said.

Should the Yellow Pages get "free-speech" protection?  Or should they just "go away".  When was the last time you actually used a phone book?