The American Bar Association’s Section of State and Local Government Law is hosting a webinar about the Supreme Court’s Reed v. Town of Gilbert decision that should be of interest to our readers. Here is a description of the program:
Panhandling is protected as speech under the First Amendment requiring any government restriction on this right to survive the strict scrutiny test, i.e., it must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert last June which found that municipalities’ content-based restrictions on signs in public areas to be unconstitutional, one of the unanticipated consequences of that decision has been lower courts’ frequent invalidation of local ordinances intended to prohibit aggressive panhandling and solicitation. Local governments often rely on these ordinances to further public safety and economic interests, but these bans are now being found by courts to run afoul of the First Amendment because they are content-based and are not narrowly tailored to further the government’s asserted interests.
Robinson & Cole’s Sorell E. Negro will moderate the program. Speakers include Brian J. Connolly, Joseph W. Mead, and Kirsten Clanton.
The webinar is scheduled for tomorrow, June 14 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET. 1.5 CLE credit will be provided.
Register for the program here.
Before you attend the webinar, check out our post Seventh Circuit Applies Reed v. Gilbert to Strike Down Panhandling Ordinance.