Local attorney Jeff Fogel is representing five panhandlers who will be filing a lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville over parts of the soliciting ordinance City Council approved last fall.
“Both I and the ACLU had opposed the amendment of this ordinance when it came up last year,” Fogel tells C-VILLE. “I testified before the Council against the ordinance. My testimony wasn’t really focused on the Constitution, as much as it was focused on it’s the wrong thing to do. There is not reason to treat this class badly.”
The lawsuit is expected to claim that the cited portions of the ordinance criminalize some form of speech, such as soliciting money, and violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Last fall, City Council approved an ordinance that banned "soliciting," which was changed from "panhandling," in numerous locations: within 15′ of any entrance or exit of banks during business hours or ATM machines; from any person seated at the Mall’s various outdoor cafés; from any vendor or cart; and within 50′ in any direction of the Mall’s two vehicular crossings on 2nd and 4th streets.
Fogel says that he has approached Council with an alternate ordinance similar to that of the City of Indianapolis.
“This ordinance is almost identical to the ordinance that we have. The only thing it does different from ours is to say not included with these prohibitions are passive forms of solicitations,” says Fogel. “If somebody doesn’t verbalize anything, if they simply hold up a sign, holding a cup, have an open guitar case, those things are excluded from any prohibitions.”
City Attorney Craig Brown said he won’t comment on a pending litigation, but tells C-VILLE that the City has up to 21 days to file an answer to the suit.
Read more about the lawsuit in next week’s C-VILLE.