Panhandler says city of Draper quashing his free speech

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A man holds a sign on the I-15 off ramp at 11400 South in Draper, Monday, June 11, 2012.

Steve Ray Evans relies on a hand-lettered sign and the kindness of strangers to make it day-to-day, but a federal lawsuit filed Monday says Draper is trying to bar his constitutional right to stand on a public sidewalk and ask for help.

The city is enforcing the same statute a federal judge struck down in March, said Brian Barnard, a Salt Lake City civil rights attorney representing Evans.

The law

In March, a federal judge found language in Utahs law against use of a roadway by pedestrians too broad. That law says: A person may not sit, stand or loiter on or near a roadway for the purpose of soliciting from the occupant of a vehicle: a ride, contributions, employment, the parking, watching, or guarding of a vehicle; or other business.

"Its like Draper city hasnt gotten the news," Barnard said.

Evans is unemployed, homeless and does not receive Social Security or disability benefits. Instead, he holds a sign while standing on public sidewalks and in other public areas requesting work and financial donations from passersby, an activity that provides his only source of income, Barnard said.

But Evans has been cited and prosecuted by Draper police under a statute they claim bars people standing near roadways from soliciting money.

"As of a week ago, Draper City police officers flat out told our client it is illegal to panhandle in the state of Utah, which is a misstatement of the law, and told him if he continued to do so that they would cite him or arrest him," Barnard said.

Go here to see the original:
Panhandler says city of Draper quashing his free speech