ACLU of Iowa urges Coralville to repeal panhandling ordinance

The ACLU of Iowa is urging Coralville and three other cities in the state to repeal their ordinances against panhandling, saying the measures violate free speech rights.

The organization sent letters Tuesday to the cities of Coralville, Davenport, Dubuque and Bettendorf, saying their ordinances are both unconstitutional and ineffective. With local rules “criminalizing poverty, all they do is drive people further into homelessness,” said Shefali Aurora, staff attorney for the ACLU of Iowa.

The basis for the letters is a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down content-based regulations of free speech. More than 70 ordinances across the country have been struck down by the courts since 2019, according to the ACLU of Iowa.

This is the second round of letters the organization has sent out in the state. The ACLU of Iowa in 2018 sent letters to Des Moines, Council Bluffs and Grimes, which have since repealed their panhandling ordinances. The organization did another review of ordinances in Iowa’s larger cities to see which still had these provisions in city code, Aurora said.

The ACLU of Iowa urged all cities to take a look at their ordinances to ensure there is not a ban or permit requirements on panhandling or solicitation, Aurora said.

"A city that did not receive a letter should not assume that its ordinances will pass constitutional muster," Aurora said.

Coralville’s letter

Coralville Mayor Meghann Foster told The Gazette the city has received the letter from the ACLU of Iowa and will be reviewing it. City Attorney Kevin Olson did not return a request for comment.

Coralville has an ordinance prohibiting “solicitation from persons in motor vehicles,” according to city code.

“No person shall solicit money or other items from a person situated in a motor vehicle that is located on any public street, alley or other public property,” the ordinance says.

The city passed the ordinance in May 2004, according to an Iowa City Press-Citizen article from November 2004.

The ACLU of Iowa said in the letter to the Coralville City Council and city attorney the ordinance is an “impermissible content-based restriction, as well as ”harmful and ineffective public policy.“

The organization has three asks for Coralville and the other cities:

"Rather than criminalizing panhandling through these ordinances, cities can modify restrictions and infrastructure to optimize pedestrian and traffic safety while avoiding being prejudicial to those in poverty or limiting free speech,“ Aurora said.

Aurora added that cities are urged to “promptly repeal their ordinances to avoid the risk of litigation.”

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com