Judge strikes down Ala. laws against panhandling

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A federal judge last week struck down Alabama laws against panhandling, ruling that the statues are unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins issued the order Friday permanently enjoining the state from enforcing the laws against begging and pedestrian solicitation. The ruling came after the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency conceded that the appellate court ruled similar laws violate a person’s right to free speech.

The decision ended litigation filed in 2020 challenging the laws on behalf of people who had been ticketed or jailed for panhandling in Montgomery. Legal groups that filed the lawsuit said the laws criminalized poverty.

State lawyers conceded in an earlier court filing that the judge was bound by a decision from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals finding such statues as a violation of free speech rights.

“The First Amendment was not originally understood to require the government to permit panhandling on public … even so, that begging is entitled to First Amendment protection is currently the law of this circuit,” state attorneys representing Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Hal Taylor wrote.

Alabama lawmakers in the coming weeks are expected to take up new legislation aimed at preventing people from loitering on public highways, which could be a new avenue to target panhandlers.

The bill by Republican Rep. Reed Ingram of Pike Road would increase the penalties for loitering on the side of state highways. “This bill is a public safety bill. We’re going after making the roads safer,” Ingram said.