Are Panhandlers' Rights to Freedom of Speech Being Violated?

A homeless man from New Rochelle City, Eric Hoffstead, had his day in court and won. Arrested after asking a policeman for a dollar Mr. Hoffstead argued that begging is a form of free speech and his right to it was violated. Citing a federal court decision stating that New York's loitering law violated First Amendment protections, Hoffstead asked his lawyer to refer to it in his court hearing. The judge dismissed the case along with an additional misdemeanor charge for possession of a crack pipe when he was arrested. Other panhandlers have fought the law on grounds that laws banning or restricting panhandling violates the 1st Amendment right to Free Speech.

A class-action lawsuit filed by attorney Mark Weinberg in 2001 was settled in favor of panhandlers against the city of Chicago, Illinois. The tentative settlement awarded $500,000. to panhandlers who were arrested of ticketed for panhandling, with $375,000 of that amount going to the attorneys who handled the lawsuit. The lawsuit came about due to the city's panhandling ordinance enacted in 1991. The ordinance was repealed in 2002. Attorneys acting on behalf of panhandlers claimed the ordinance violated their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech.

An ordinance making it illegal to ask strangers for food or money near downtown Atlanta, Georgia museums was approved in August 2005. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site was added after people pointed out that the ban protecting tourists from panhandlers did not include this popular Atlanta attraction. One council member who approved the new law admitted she did not know if it was constitutional. Protestors to the ban's passage felt asking for alms is a God given right.

In May 2004, city officials in Albuquerque New Mexico passed a revised panhandling law. The law was revised to satisfy complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union, who dropped a lawsuit based on the same Freedom of Speech constitutional right. The new law bans panhandling at night in the Nob Hill area of town. It also protects citizens from aggressive panhandling, such as blocking a person from walking, asking a second time when told no and touching a passerby.

In April, 2005 the Minneapolis, Minnesota police chief William McManus proposed a different approach to help the police handle complaints about panhandlers. The complaints usually come from business owners who claim the panhandlers scare off customers and their business suffers financial losses when homeless beggars hang around the premises. Chief McManus suggested panhandlers get a license to panhandle and wear an photo ID hanging around their neck along with their signs, if they hold them. Minneapolis enacted a ban on aggressive panhandling in 2004 which was not deemed effective due to the thousands of people on the streets any given night. A city survey found 9% of the homeless population or 299 people asked people for money one night.

Chief McManus felt panhandlers would cease aggressively demanding spare change from strangers if they had a photo ID clearly visible. Cities such as Dallas, Texas, Cincinnati, Ohio and Greensboro, North Carolina already license panhandlers. Robert Yellow Wolf who grew up in South Dakota panhandles on a local Interstate off-ramp because of difficulties finding a job. According to a "First Amendment Center" article, Robert Yellow Wolf is quoted as saying he would get a photo ID license, because "When you're homeless you have no say" even though he thinks the plan is "ridiculous".

Similar legal battles have taken place across the country most notably in Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, California and Orlando, Florida. The message is clear: people are tired of strangers on the streets asking for money. It strikes fears in peoples hearts when approached as they leave an ATM or MAC machine. Panhandlers feel they are being harrassed and penalized for the crime of being homeless. Are panhandlers' rights to freedom of speech being violated when cities outlaw asking for help?

The First Amendment to the United States Constituion reads in part: "Congress shall make no law~abridging the freedom of speech." "Congress" in the USA is a legislative branch of the federal government. The Constitution gave the States authority to enact their own laws as long as the laws were not prohibited by the Federal Government. It seems panhandlers do have the right to freely speak to people and their rights are being violated when cities enact laws prohibiting panhandling. Business owners may not know federal law, but it behooves elected city officials who enact local ordinances, to know it. Lawsuits by the ACLU or enterprising lawyers could cost city governments, with tight budgets, taxpayer dollars as in New Rochelle, NY.