{"id":22008,"date":"2023-09-15T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=22008"},"modified":"2023-09-06T11:47:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:47:06","slug":"advocates-temporarily-stop-anti-panhandling-ordinance-in-west-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/advocates-temporarily-stop-anti-panhandling-ordinance-in-west-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates Temporarily Stop Anti-Panhandling Ordinance in West Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Homeless advocates are working to defeat a proposed ordinance in Monongalia County, West Virginia, that seeks to prevent homeless people from panhandling on county roadways.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to its text, the proposed ordinance would prohibit \u201cinteraction or exchanging of items between pedestrians and occupants\u201d on roadways with speed limits of at least 35 miles per hour and an annualized daily traffic flow of 4,000 vehicles or more. Nearly every road in the county meets those qualifications. People who violate the law can be given a citation and subjected to a $100 fine for each violation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Homeless advocates said the law targets the county\u2019s underprivileged community, while supporters argued the law is necessary to protect public safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some local law enforcement officials like Monongalia County Emergency Medical Services Executive Director Forest Weyen and Star City Police Chief Jessica Colebank told the Monongalia County Commission during its\u00a0<\/span>Aug. 16 meeting<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that they support the ordinance. However, both officials told the commission in separate emails that the law should be clarified to exempt first responders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Advocates like the local League of Women Voters and Mountain State Justice, a nonprofit law firm, weren\u2019t sold on the law.<\/span><\/h4>\n

The League of Women Voters sent a letter to the commission saying the ordinance would \u201cviolate the human rights\u201d of one part of the community \u201cunder the guide of protecting public safety.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis ordinance appears to be one more attempt among many to remove from sight what the more privileged citizens of Monongalia County deem distasteful,\u201d the letter read in part. \u201cHowever, merely relocating the problem doesn\u2019t solve it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, Mountain State Justice described the ordinance in a letter as \u201cunconstitutional\u201d and said it is illustrative of \u201ctargeted animus\u201d toward homeless people by local officials. The organization added that the law is too broad and could be used to stifle other forms of protected speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn short, the ordinance prohibits only one thing: constitutionally protected speech,\u201d Leslie Nash, MSJ\u2019s executive director, wrote in a letter to the commission.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one who attended the Aug. 16 public hearing for the ordinance spoke in favor of it. Instead, several community members spoke against the ordinance and described it as a solution in search of a problem. The commission voted 4-2 to revise the ordinance and resubmit it for a public hearing in mid-September.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Anti-Panhandling Legislation is Ineffective<\/h3>\n

The proposed ordinance is also symbolic of a growing movement to regulate the visibility of homelessness in cities nationwide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Several cities stretching from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Lowell, Massachusetts, and Tampa, Florida, have attempted to regulate public homelessness through panhandling ordinances for several years. However, the ordinances have often been struck down by the courts.<\/span><\/p>\n

In March, the U.S. District Court filed an injunction against The City of Montgomery, Alabama, preventing it from enforcing its anti-panhandling ordinance. That ruling came after state officials admitted the law violated a person\u2019s right to free speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCriminalizing the solicitation of charitable donations does nothing to advance public safety,\u201d Tish Gotell Faulks, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama,\u00a0<\/span>told the Associated Press.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u201cInstead, it multiplies already existing barriers for people experiencing homelessness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That ruling hasn\u2019t stopped Alabama lawmakers from continuing their attempts to limit the free speech of the state\u2019s homeless population. Shortly after the Montgomery decision was handed down, lawmakers introduced\u00a0<\/span>new legislation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0aimed at preventing people from loitering on public roadways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Republican Rep. Reed Ingram told the AP that the bill is a \u201cpublic safety bill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going after making the roads safer,\u201d Reed said.<\/span><\/p>\n

How You Can Help<\/h3>\n

Now is not the time to be silent about homelessness in West Virginia or anywhere else. Unhoused people deserve safe and sanitary housing just as much as those who can afford rent or mortgage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Poverty and homelessness are both policy choices, not personal failures. That\u2019s why we need you to\u00a0<\/span>contact your officials<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and tell them you support legislation that:<\/span><\/p>\n