Homeless man wins civil rights suit against St. Louis County.

[IL Dem]

Now a federal judge has thrown out two of the ordinances used against Robert Fernandez — and awarded him $150,000. His attorneys, Bevis Schock and Hugh Eastwood, were awarded another $138,515 in attorney’s fees.

Schock said on Friday’s St. Louis on the Air that when Fernandez first reached out, he was “incredulous” that St. Louis County would ticket people for soliciting without a license.

“My hair stood up,” he said. “Surely within the parameters of the First Amendment right to free speech is the right to say, ‘I’m poor, will you give me money?’ Which is all Robert does. He stands there with a sign.”

Indeed, in a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh wrote that the St. Louis County ordinances represented an unconstitutional violation of Fernandez’s free speech rights. He struck down the ordinance barring people from soliciting financial assistance unless they get a license from the county. He also struck down language restricting solicitation at high-traffic intersections.



https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-05-14/homeless-man-wins-150k-as-judge-strikes-st-louis-countys-solicitation-ordinances

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