©
CHARLOTTSVILLE
A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit filed by five homeless men who challenged Charlottesville's panhandling ordinance.
In a ruling this week, U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon said a city ordinance that bans panhandling in certain areas on the Downtown Mall does not violate the plaintiffs' rights to free speech.
The ordinance is intended to shield customers at outdoor cafes from aggressive panhandlers.
The Daily Progress (http://bit.ly/vZOtyS ) reported Thursday that Moon acted on the city's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
City Attorney Craig Brown said the city is pleased with the dismissal, but he expects the plaintiffs to appeal the ruling in a higher court.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Depends
If these guys are on public property then this ruling is incorrect and should be overturned.
Oh yes. Let the rabble have free run.
The largest library in my town is now a flophouse for these sorts of bums, to the point that library patrons (those who actually wish to borrow a book) avoid going there. Somehow the bums and panhandlers always seem to have money for cigarettes and booze, yet they monopolize the chairs in the library for sleeping, the bathrooms for bathing and washing hair, and the payphones for calling their friends (after they have demanded money from passersby). The employees are afraid of them as they are aggressive and belligerant. These people have no shame and are a drain on society in general. A few decades ago, they would have been arrested as vagrants and sentenced to a roadgang, which sounds like a fair solution now.
I wonder...
The article says this is limited to certain areas and that it is intended to protect the customers of outdoor cafes. I wonder if the situation they have is similar to the restaurants in Olde Towne Portsmouth? The panhandlers can get really aggressive and unruly if you're seated at an outside table at Roger Brown's or the Bier Garden, and there's really no place for you to go. (This is your table, you've ordered food, there may be nowhere else to sit.) They'll just scream at you until you give them something or until someone threatens to call the cops. I certainly don't think that sort of conduct should be excused. Would "disorderly conduct" be better than panhandling? (Would that apply?)
Totally Concur With You
We have the exact same problem in Norfolk in the Greater Ghent area. They are extremely aggressive in demanding money, and quickly become agitated, abusive and threatening if you do not turn over money. One individual threw rocks after we told him no and to stop harassing us for money in the parking lot of the 7-11 at Colonial and Princess Anne. Another followed my son and I through the store, demanding that we buy him food and placing about 20.00 of items in front of us. To make it worse, the 7-11s continue to conduct single liquor sales, so the hobos stand off on the side of 7-11, drink the liquor, and then go back to harassing customers and area residents.
if these same panhandlers would make it a movement
like the occupy folks did, then would there be a problem? Could they stop these folks from walking the mall?
What are they doing wrong? Walking around with a sign saying need food outside a restaurant and the gentle folk don't want to see them? That these gentle folk feel guilty for their gluttonous ways and want the city to make the problem and their guilt go away?
Mr. O brought this kind of thinking to the fore. These panhandlers have the right to wonder the malls just like the rest of us. I guess only certain or the right kind of person is allowed in these malls. Guess these panhandlers are not "rich" enough to be in a public place? Guess their not citizen.
Will Mr. O protect these folks or because they typically wont vote, O wont?
They do Vote - A Friend of Mine From Chicago Told How He
Was paid as a young child by the local Democratic party to hand out $10 bills to the homeless on the days of elections. The bills would be ripped in half, with the homless person receiving one half prior to voting. Following voting, the homeless person would receive the other half. By the way, my friend was a lifelong Democrat and said that this was the way business was conducted in Chicago.
Hypocrisy
at its finest. Here is a bastion of liberal society where recently the City Council, of all groups (gotta laugh at this), sent the president a letter demanding the end of all wars so "we" can focus on important things like feeding the hungry. However, the feel good ultra-liberals pull a NIMBY when someone asks someone else on the street for some change for a sandwich. Oh, only the liberals know how to manage this food distribution effort, just give them the tax money and they will distribute "fair shares". Just follow the leaky bucket if you will.
outdoor cafes from aggressive panhandlers
What’s wrong with just charging them with trespassing? I’m sure the owners didn’t invite them.