The Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic at Vanderbilt Law School has filed an amicus brief in a case before the Eleventh Circuit, Singleton v. Taylor, advocating for speech protections in a case considering two Alabama statutes restricting solicitation.
Amici also included the First Amendment clinics at the Duke, University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, and Southern Methodist law schools, legal scholars from the University of Georgia and Belmont law schools, and several organizations, including Alabama Appleseed, Alabama Arise, One Roof, and Alabama Justice Initiative, which joined together to advocate for the First Amendment right to solicit financial support.
The case considers whether Jonathan Singleton, an unhoused individual in Montgomery, Alabama, who held a sign soliciting help that read “Homeless,” violated an Alabama law that prohibits a person from begging and carries criminal punishment for doing so.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) had cited people under Alabama law for holding signs reading “homeless, please help,” “travelin broke bless,” and “husband in hospital.” In addition, ALEA had issued citations to people for allegedly violating the statute for sitting in the rain with an umbrella and sign and selling cans and to an individual wrapped in a sleeping bag approaching vehicles with a sign.
In their brief, amici advanced two arguments: that First Amendment protections apply to begging and that long-established doctrine considers begging a form of protected speech, a position that enhances judicial protection against infringement upon a vulnerable exercise of speech.
“The Clinic is recognizing that, here, the State of Alabama is singling out this category of speech for its content. Even though political or religious solicitations are protected, an individual requesting food, water, or shelter is left without the ability to speak openly about their circumstance without fear of imprisonment, citation, or fine,” explained Madeline Knight ‘24, a student in the Stanton First Amendment Clinic who assisted with drafting the brief alongside Angela Karas ‘24.
Amici urged the Court to recognize the abundance of binding and persuasive authority that permits soliciting alms and argued that the State’s attempt to silence a politically unpopular group is unconstitutional.
“The resolution of this case will determine whether the right to solicit charitable contributions for oneself is protected by the First Amendment,” said Jennifer Safstrom, who directs Vanderbilt’s Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic. “Amici are committed to enhancing the public’s freedom of expression, even when such expressions speak about individual conditions of socioeconomic status that some may find uncomfortable.”
