ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Three plaintiffs filed a lawsuit Monday against St. Johns County challenging a 2023 ordinance aimed to stop panhandling, arguing it violates the First Amendment.
The lawsuit was filed by Southern Legal Counsel (SLC) and Florida Justice Institute (FJI) on behalf of the plaintiffs, who are described as "individuals of limited means who engage in panhandling." The lawsuit notes that each plaintiff is a "longtime resident" of St. Johns County and is either disabled or without permanent housing.
The ordinance, signed in May 2023, states that it is meant to regulate what can and cannot happen on public rights of way.
County Ordinance 2023-16 lists two examples of prohibited activity on public rights-of-way: Physical interaction between a pedestrian and an occupant in a moving vehicle with the transfer of any product, material or money while the vehicle is in a roadway and is not legally parked; and “stopping, sitting, standing or remaining in a median” on a roadway when a pedestrian is not crossing the road.
The ordinance argues that the "unexpected presence of pedestrians" in the traveled portion of a roadway increases the threat of crashes. The ordinance adds interactions between pedestrians and people in vehicles at highly traveled public intersections and public roads are "inherently dangerous" and can distract drivers.
The lawsuit alleges that the ordinance's language is "exceedingly overbroad," and could be enforced against "all forms of expressive activity" including standing, holding a sign, soliciting, receiving donations, and leafletting on sidewalks, medians, and alongside all St. Johns County roadways.
The lawsuit argues the ordinance "fails to define 'physical interaction,'" and the county never presented any evidence that anyone soliciting donations along the roadway was involved in or caused a crash.
Since the ordinance was enacted, the lawsuit states that approximately 32 people have been cited, with four taken to jail for "standing along the roadway or on a median requesting donations." At least 75% of the citations were panhandling or standing near a roadway holding a sign.
Panhandling and requesting donations are recognized as a protected activity under the First Amendment, according to the Department of Justice.
In January 2023, the DOJ filed a Statement of Interest of the United States in the case Scott v. City of Daytona Beach to address whether panhandling is legal under the First Amendment.
"When local governments broadly restrict people from asking others for help, they punish people for the purpose of their speech, criminalizing expressive activity that the First Amendment protects," the document states.
Regarding the lawsuit against St. Johns County, it is argued that the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights were violated when faced with the "continuing threat of citation and arrest" for asking for or receiving donations.
"The ordinance gives unbridled discretion to law enforcement to enforce it, leaving the ordinance unconstitutionally vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment," the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit includes information from a St. Johns County Commission meeting on Jan. 17, 2023, in which a commissioner requested the county attorney draft an ordinance to address the "growing problem" of panhandling.
"You are seeing people who are not homeless, these are folks who made their livelihoods traveling the country to stand on medians and on corners basically asking for money," said Commissioner Christian Whitehurst, who represents District 1. "Clay County took some steps to draft an ordinance this week. I was hoping that you could bring something back for us to consider that models after what Clay County did," Whitehurst told David Migut, the county's attorney at the time.
Migut explained that if the county moves forward with the ordinance, "it has got to be narrowly tailored, to not infringe upon First Amendment rights," and would need to be for specific areas, not countywide, where panhandling is a "demonstrative problem."
"Generally, to pass constitutional muster, it's something like when it's 'aggressive panhandling' where health/safety are at issue, it's more likely to be permissible government regulation," Migut said.
On May 2, 2023, the ordinance was unanimously passed after its second reading. The lawsuit argues the ordinance is "not narrowly tailored to, and is not the least restrictive means of serving any compelling government interest, and is therefore unconstitutional under the First Amendment."
First Coast News reached out to St. Johns County for comment on this lawsuit and was told by the county's attorney that he had not seen a copy of it, and a comment was not provided when this story was published.
The lawsuit is provided below
