ACLU tells local municipalities to repeal anti-begging laws

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – On the heels of a federal judge striking down the state’s panhandling statute, the ACLU of Michigan has sent notices to 84 communities – including many in West Michigan – urging their anti-begging ordinances be repealed.

Article here. 

An Oct. 29 letter sent to the Ada Township attorney said: “We have reviewed your city ordinance and understand it to read as follows: No person shall: … Beg in any public place. …
“Ada Township’s ordinance, like the state law struck down in (the Grand Rapids case), prohibits begging in public places and is therefore unconstitutional on its face. We therefore advise you to repeal the ordinance and to instruct your local law enforcement agency to stop enforcing it immediately.”

Panhandling - now legal in Michigan after law is held unconstitutional

A Michigan state law that banned panhandling has been struck down as unconstitutional. Article here. The law infringed on First Amendment rights of panhandlers.

The ACLU of Michigan said that “the state’s anti-begging law is unconstitutional because peaceful panhandling – like requests for charity by nonprofits, sport teams or the Salvation Army — is protected speech under the First Amendment.”