Civil liberties group says ordinance unnecessary, violates free speech
Richmond, VA -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has asked the Public Safety Committee of Richmond City Council not to recommend passage of a proposed ordinance that would, among other provisions, ban all panhandling in Richmond’s Central Business District.
In a letter and legal memo emailed and faxed to members of the Public Safety Committee earlier today, the ACLU says that the total ban on panhandling in the Central Business District violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment, that the ordinance lacks a proper mechanism for warning violators who may not be aware of the ordinance, and that it is unnecessary.
“The City of Richmond certainly has a right to regulate panhandlers to make sure they are not intimidating and harassing pedestrians” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis, “but they can’t just outright ban it from the entire Central Business District.”
“Courts have found that panhandling conveys a social message,” added Willis. “And, while it may not be a message most people want to hear, it is one of the ways that the story of poverty in the richest nation in the world is told. For this reason, it is protected by the free speech clause of the First Amendment.”
“The first question the Public Safety Committee ought to be asking is whether Richmond needs this ordinance,” said Willis. “I’ve worked in the Central Business District for more than 30 years and found there to be relatively little panhandling here, and what there is of it is typically polite and non-confrontational.”
The ordinance also bans panhandling near outdoor restaurants and ATM machines. The Public Safety Committee is scheduled to meet today at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall.
The letter and legal memo sent to Public Safety Committee members are available here.
Contact: Kent Willis, 804/644-8022
