City Coucil should oppose appeal of anti-panhandling ordinance
“The Oklahoma City Council is considering appealing its unconstitutional anti-panhandling ordinance passed in 2015, this time at the U.S. Supreme Court. The original proposal for the ordinance included a $500 fine and actual jail time, but through the efforts of VOICE (Voices Organized in Civic Engagement) and many community groups, the fine was lowered to $100 and no jail time.
“The ordinance attracted legal challenges immediately and has been found repeatedly to be unconstitutional, but the city council has already spent $233,000 of taxpayer money in legal fees trying to appeal this decision. On Sept. 29, the council had an opportunity to be done with this fight; instead, it voted 6-3 to defer its decision to the next council meeting. Appealing it to the Supreme Court would require hiring expensive outside legal counsel to consult in the case.” . . .