The ACLU testified on two bills regarding panhandling this year. H 5210 would make it illegal for a driver or passenger in a motor vehicle to “stop on any public highway to give any person any item.” H 5258 bans loitering on a public highway under certain circumstances. Both pieces of legislation are clearly aimed at panhandling, although they would also have a much broader impact on the exercise of First Amendment rights generally.
The ACLU has continuously criticized municipalities that have proposed or tried to pass ordinances aimed at criminalizing panhandling. All communities except for one have backed down from passing such ordinances after objections from the ACLU and homeless rights advocactes. The exception is the City of Cranston, which in January passed an ordinance that would ban a person from entering or standing in a roadway or median for the purpose of distributing anything to, or receiving anything from, the occupant of a motor vehicle. The ACLU has challenged that ordinance, and planned to to do the same if either of these two bills passed. However, neither of them moved out of committee.
