The city of Olympia has removed references to panhandling from its municipal code in response to a Washington state Supreme Court decision that partially invalidated a Lakewood ordinance restricting panhandling.
Olympia’s ordinance had prohibited panhandling, defined as “any solicitation made in person, requesting an immediate donation of money or other thing of value,” within 25 feet of an ATM or parking pay station. It also banned aggressive panhandling, defined in part as “conduct that would likely intimidate a reasonable person.”
A city report found the city’s definition had targeted speech based on its content and prohibited that speech in places “historically recognized as a traditional public forum, such as sidewalks and other ‘public places.'”
“What we did is we looked at our municipal code and just put it in alignment with the Supreme Court decision,” said Kellie Purce Braseth, a city spokeswoman.
The City Council approved the change Dec. 19. Purce Braseth noted that harassment and assault are still prohibited, as is any activity that obstructs pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
The state Supreme Court in July 2016 overturned the conviction of a man who walked onto a highway offramp in Lakewood with a sign saying he needed help. Lakewood’s ordinance prohibited asking for money as a charity at certain locations, including near ATMs and public transportation stops, and at onramps, offramps and major intersections.
The court said those last two were overly broad and imposed content-based restrictions on speech in traditional public forums. The majority opinion did not address the other restrictions, though two justices called the entire ordinance overly broad.
“When we talk about panhandling, it’s a free speech issue,” said Nancy Talner, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Washington. The group submitted an amicus brief in the Lakewood case.
