August 14, 2013 at 1:00 am Criminalizing begging in Michigan unconstitutional, court rules David Shepardson and Chad Livengood The Detroit News 206 Comments A federal appeals court has ruled Michigan’s Depression-era law that criminalizes begging is unconstitutional because it violates free speech rights. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower court decision that said Grand Rapids police were wrong to arrest two homeless men in 2011 for asking for change. In a decision released Wednesday, the court said between 2008 and 2011, 399 people were arrested or issued tickets for begging in Grand Rapids. Of those, 211 were sentenced to jail terms, the panel said. “Michigan’s interest in preventing fraud can be better served by a statute that, instead of directly prohibiting begging, is more narrowly tailored to the specific conduct, such as fraud, that Michigan seeks to prohibit,” Judge Boyce Martin wrote in an opinion joined by judges Jeffrey Sutton and John R. Adams. Martin is an appointee of Democratic President Jimmy Carter, while Sutton and Adams were appointed by Republican President George W. Bush. Two Detroiters seeking money Wednesday afternoon welcomed the court’s finding of a First Amendment right. “I’m really not begging,” said Lonnie Gaines, 54, who held a sign saying “Homeless — Please Help!” at the corner of Monroe and the I-375 service drive in Detroit. “It’s their free will” to give him money, Gaines said. “I’m not threatening anybody. I hold up my sign, and they have a choice.” Gordon King, 60, who lives in a shelter and held a similar a cardboard sign at Larned and the I-375 service drive, said the opinion “will help people.” The case arose after Grand Rapids police arrested two homeless men, James Speet and Ernest Sims, who sued the west Michigan city and the state with legal assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. In January 2011, Speet was arrested for begging in Grand Rapids. He held a sign saying: “Cold and Hungry, God Bless.” The police gave Speet an appearance ticket, and he pleaded guilty to the charge. Unable to pay the $198 fine, Speet spent four days in jail. Five months later, police again arrested Speet, this time for holding a sign that said, “Need Job, God Bless,” while standing between a sidewalk and a street. After Speet secured pro bono counsel, the prosecution dismissed the begging charge. On July 4, 2011, Sims sought money for bus fare and asked a person on the street: “Can you spare a little change?” A Grand Rapids police officer witnessed the conversation and immediately arrested him. “After Sims, a veteran, requested that he not be taken to jail because it was the Fourth of July, the officer agreed to give him an appearance ticket. Later, Sims appeared without counsel in court on the begging charge. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a fine of $100,” the court opinion said. Miriam Aukerman, an ACLU attorney for the men, said their plea for money was no different than firefighters standing at street corners collecting donations or a Salvation Army holiday bell ringer standing outside a mall. Compared to fundraising“What the court said is the same protection applies to poor people asking for money for their basic needs,” Aukerman said. Michigan has barred begging since 1929. The appellate court said the Michigan law “simply bans an entire category of activity that the First Amendment protects.” A spokeswoman for state Attorney General Bill Schuette said Wednesday the ruling is under review. Schuette’s office argued begging is not a protected form of free speech. “Begging is not necessarily tied to a social or political message as is charitable solicitation or political speech, nor is begging readily understood by the one whose funds are being solicited as a request for employment,” Schuette’s office argued in court briefs. Schuette’s office also contended not all beggars “use the funds they receive by begging to meet basic needs.” No High Court rulingThe opinion written by Martin, whom legal website FindLaw calls the appellate court’s “vociferous liberal lion,” noted the U.S. Supreme Court has not directly decided the question of whether the First Amendment protects soliciting money or other aid when done by individuals, but it has held repeatedly the First Amendment protects charitable solicitations by organizations. Three other appeals courts have upheld the right of citizens to beg for money. Robert Sedler, a Wayne State University law professor, said other courts have found aggressive panhandling is not a protected form of free speech, but there’s nothing the government can do to stop someone from “peacefully” standing on a street corner asking for money. “How different is that than someone saying I’m trying to sell you a newspaper?” said Sedler, adding beggars are offering a product of “a good feeling” for helping someone. dshepardson@detroitnews (202) 662-8735 From The Detroit News: detroitnews/article/20130814/METRO06/308140088#ixzz2cf70idD5
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 02:44:09 +0000
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