DALLAS — The city of Dallas is being sued over its recently-passed panhandling ordinance which bans people from walking or standing on medians.
In October of 2022, the Dallas City Council voted 14-1 to adopt two ordinances that bans people from asking for money in certain areas of the city.
One of these new ordinances bans pedestrians from medians that are less than six feet wide or in the middle of a street that doesn't have a median. The other ordinance allows city marshals to hand out citations to pedestrians violating the first ordinance.
If someone is panhandling in these situations, it could cost up to $500 in fines.
The lawsuit – filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of four people experiencing homelessness, including two disabled combat veterans – claims the ordinance violates the First Amendment.
City council approved the ordinance on the grounds of being a public safety issue, saying people shouldn’t be allowed to stand on medians six feet wide or narrower because they could get hit by a car.
The lawsuit argues that the ordinance looks to criminalize homelessness.
Panhandling, as an act itself, has been ruled by the Supreme Court protected speech by the First Amendment.
“Recognizing that such a targeted attack would violate the First Amendment’s prohibition on content discrimination, the City manufactured an unjustified ‘public safety’ rationale for (the ordinance), and attempted to disguise the Ordinance’s real purpose by criminalizing a broad array of speech,” the lawsuit claims.
Read the full lawsuit here.
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