Are Panhandlers' Rights to Freedom of Speech Being Violated?

A homeless man from New Rochelle City, Eric Hoffstead, had his day in court and won. Arrested after asking a policeman for a dollar Mr. Hoffstead argued that begging is a form of free speech and his right to it was violated. Citing a federal court decision stating that New York's loitering law violated First Amendment protections, Hoffstead asked his lawyer to refer to it in his court hearing. The judge dismissed the case along with an additional misdemeanor charge for possession of a crack pipe when he was arrested. Other panhandlers have fought the law on grounds that laws banning or restricting panhandling violates the 1st Amendment right to Free Speech.

A class-action lawsuit filed by attorney Mark Weinberg in 2001 was settled in favor of panhandlers against the city of Chicago, Illinois. The tentative settlement awarded $500,000. to panhandlers who were arrested of ticketed for panhandling, with $375,000 of that amount going to the attorneys who handled the lawsuit. The lawsuit came about due to the city's panhandling ordinance enacted in 1991. The ordinance was repealed in 2002. Attorneys acting on behalf of panhandlers claimed the ordinance violated their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech.

An ordinance making it illegal to ask strangers for food or money near downtown Atlanta, Georgia museums was approved in August 2005. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site was added after people pointed out that the ban protecting tourists from panhandlers did not include this popular Atlanta attraction. One council member who approved the new law admitted she did not know if it was constitutional. Protestors to the ban's passage felt asking for alms is a God given right.