Under state law, it's fine for high school students and civic groups to stand on street corners asking for money to support their favorite cause -- but it's illegal for homeless people to ask passersby for charity.
But the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan says it hopes to eliminate that double-standard by suing the State of Michigan and City of Grand Rapids to overturn a 1931 state law that outlaws peaceful begging in public.
It filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in Grand Rapids seeking to have the law declared unconstitutional.
A spokesman for Michigan Attorney Bill Schuette, who was sued in his official capacity, and Grand Rapids City Attorney Catherine Mish said they were reviewing the suit.
The ACLU said Grand Rapids has aggressively enforced the law, making 399 panhandling arrests since 2008, resulting in a total of 1,641 days in jail for offenders and costing taxpayers $60,000.
The ACLU sued on behalf of James Speet and Ernest Sims, both of Grand Rapids, who were jailed under the statute.
Speet has been homeless for about two years, sleeps in a tent and lives on food stamps and by collecting bottles and cans. Sims, a veteran, gets by on food stamps and a $260 monthly disability check.
When times get tough, Speet said he solicits strangers with a sign. Sims said he panhandles.
Speet spent four days in jail in January after pleading guilty to violating the law. In July, a judge ordered Sims to pay a $100 fine or spend two days in jail. The suit said he struggles to pay $20 a month.
"I see people holding up signs throughout the city advertising restaurants or protesting and they don't get arrested or ticketed," Speet said in an ACLU news release. "I don't understand why my sign is any different just because I'm homeless and looking for a job."
The suit says begging is protected speech under the First Amendment and that the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection by targeting beggars as opposed to other charities that solicit in public.
The ACLU said it successfully lobbied Royal Oak to revise its anti-begging ordinance to prohibit aggressive begging, and that similar laws have been struck down in several states. ..Source.. by David Ashenfelter
