Southern Legal Counsel Files Lawsuit Challenging Seminole County Ordinance that Criminalizes Requests for Help
Lawsuit on behalf of two Seminole County residents challenges a local ordinance that criminalizes requests for charity
June 5, 2024, SEMINOLE COUNTY, FL – Southern Legal Counsel today filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Seminole County ordinance passed in January 2015 that prohibits asking for donations in certain public spaces.
The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, also seeks a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the ordinance, as well as compensatory damages. The lawsuit and injunction challenge a content-based ordinance prohibiting, among other things, “aggressive” speech soliciting charitable assistance in many areas within the county. “Approaching” pedestrians and “repetitive soliciting despite refusals” are included in the ordinance’s definition of “aggressive.”
“Seminole County is restricting speech based on the message, and that is a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” said SLC Attorney Dan Marshall. “They are not restricting asking for votes, requesting signatures on a petition, encouraging people to join a church, or picketing; they are just restricting requests for help. The county fails to recognize that state and federal courts in Florida and all around the country have repeatedly found such content-based restrictions to be unconstitutional.”
Under the ordinance, Seminole County deputies have made at least 130 arrests for violations, 92 of which were arrests of individuals experiencing homelessness or who did not have a home address listed on their arrest report.
Those exercising their First Amendment right to request charity have been sentenced to approximately 858 days in jail and been assessed approximately $39,147 in court costs, fees and fines after being arrested for violations of the ordinance. County deputies also threaten individuals making requests for charity with arrest and issue verbal warnings for panhandling, telling people what they are doing is unlawful or to move along.
The lawsuit follows others brought against Florida local governments whose ordinances criminalizing requests for charity were struck down, enjoined from enforcement, or repealed. Among those municipalities were Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Fort Myers, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Miami.
On July 14, 2023, SLC attorneys sent a letter to Seminole County Manager Darren Gray and the five Seminole County Commissioners informing them that the ordinance was unconstitutional and requesting its repeal. On August 9, 2023, David Shields, an attorney in the Seminole County Attorney’s Office, replied to the letter, indicating that the County believed the ordinance was constitutional, and vowing to “vigorously defend any lawsuit” against it.
“We are bringing this lawsuit to force Seminole County to focus on constructive solutions to homelessness rather than arrest and jail,” said SLC Executive Director Jodi Siegel. “Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, every ordinance that prohibits charitable solicitation that has been challenged in federal court has been found unconstitutional. There is no carve-out in the Constitution for Seminole County.”
The case is Faustin v. Seminole County, Case No. 6:24-cv-1036.
A copy of the complaint filed today is available here.