Jonathan Singleton, et al. v. City of Montgomery, Alabama, et al.
The state of Alabama enacted laws against solicitation that violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech protection. The SPLC and its allies filed a federal lawsuit to immediately stop the city, county and state from enforcing two unconstitutional statutes that prohibit soliciting help in the form of food or monetary donations.
The complaint describes how the laws make it unlawful for anyone to “beg” or “solicit,” subjecting people to fines or jail for violations. Even though the First Amendment protects charitable solicitation and begging, the city of Montgomery issued more than 400 citations to enforce the laws during an 18-month period.
Jonathan Singleton, 44, a resident of Montgomery experiencing homelessness, was cited or arrested six times for holding signs that conveyed messages including: “HOMELESS. Today it is me, tomorrow it could be you.” Singleton struggles with chronic illness – including kidney failure and diabetes – which makes it difficult to maintain employment, housing and health care. As a result, he relies on the help of others for survival. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Singleton and others who solicit help.
At least 3,200 Alabama residents, including more than 230 families and 290 veterans, experience homelessness each night, according to 2019 data. In Montgomery County, more than 350 people are homeless on any given night. During the 2016-17 school year, at least 14,000 public school students experienced homelessness.
In 2019, the city of Montgomery passed an ordinance imposing additional penalties on solicitation, including mandatory jail time. The ordinance was later repealed by the Montgomery City Council after advocacy by the SPLC, co-counsel, community groups and clergy.
Criminalizing solicitation subjects people experiencing homelessness to unaffordable fines and fees, the loss of liberty through incarceration and a criminal record – all of which are obstacles to obtaining housing and economic security.
Laws against solicitation, including Alabama’s law criminalizing begging, have their origins in vagrancy laws that were designed to criminalize African Americans after the Civil War and were used to try to suppress the Civil Rights Movement. The discriminatory effect continues today, with people of color disproportionately harmed by laws that target individuals who solicit because of a lack of stable housing or resources.
In 2020, Singleton separately settled his lawsuit against the City of Montgomery. As part of that settlement agreement, the City agreed to stop enforcing the state laws that are the subject of his class action lawsuit; to remit all outstanding fines and costs owed in connection with pleading guilty or being found guilty of violating the state statutes criminalizing solicitation; and to pay plaintiffs’ attorneys the sum of $10,000 to be used for charitable purposes on behalf of people experiencing homelessness. The settlement agreement involved only the City of Montgomery. Litigation against the secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Hal Taylor, and Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham continued.
In 2022, the Court certified a class and entered a preliminary injunction preventing Taylor and Cunningham from enforcing the two laws that are the subject of the lawsuit. Singleton and Cunningham subsequently reached a settlement agreement. As part of that settlement agreement, Cunningham agreed not to enforce the two state statutes criminalizing solicitation. In 2023, the Court issued a final judgment against Taylor, declared the two statutes to be in violation of the First Amendment and permanently enjoined Taylor from enforcing the laws.
Taylor has since appealed that judgment to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The parties are awaiting a final decision on the merits from that Court.
