Victory! In 2016 the ACLU of Arkansas challenged a state law making it a crime to ask for money, food or other charity, any time and any place, saying it violated the right to free speech. The case was filed on behalf of two people, Michael Andrew Rodgers and Glynn Dilbeck.
Mr. Rodgers is a disabled veteran who holds up a sign and asks for money from passers-by that he uses to live on. Mr. Dilbeck is a homeless man who holds up a sign asking for money he uses to help pay his daughter’s medical bills. Both have been subject to criminal proceedings.
Status: The federal court agreed that the law unlawfully criminalized protected free speech and struck it down.
