JACKSON, Miss. — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi (ACLU-MS) filed a class action complaint challenging Mississippi’s Safe Solicitation Act, which criminalizes holding signs requesting charity on public streets and sidewalks without a permit.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Brittany Black, Preston Owens and Rachel Wright against the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and Capitol Police.
The SPLC and ACLU-MS lawsuit claims the act is unconstitutional because it violates the plaintiffs’ First and 14th Amendment rights to request help because of hunger, poverty and homelessness without having to first pay the government to get permission to make those requests. It alleges that the Capitol Police charge people $25 a day for a solicitation permit, which allows people to solicit charitable donations by holding signs such as “hungry, homeless, anything helps.” Anyone who does not have a solicitation permit (or cannot afford one) faces prosecution under the act.
“The First Amendment protects everyone’s right to ask for charity when we need help or have fallen on hard times,” said Micah West, senior supervising attorney, SPLC. “Housing, not handcuffs, is the solution to homelessness. Mississippi should invest in affordable housing to end homelessness, not criminalize speech.”
In February, the SPLC announced a new campaign, Poverty Is Not a Line. The campaign seeks to reshape the narrative about poverty to refute misinformation about what it means to live in poverty and empower communities to resolve systemic issues that cause poverty. It is also a fact-driven initiative to expose poverty as a human condition characterized by the sustained deprivation of the resources, choices and power necessary to support an adequate standard of living for all.
“We cannot arrest our way out of homelessness and poverty,” said Jarvis Dortch, executive director, ACLU-MS. “Responding to homelessness with police and jails only fuels mass incarceration, keeping people in an endless cycle of poverty, incarceration and institutionalization.”
The SPLC and ACLU-MS, on behalf of plaintiffs and a proposed class, request that the court prohibit the enforcement of Mississippi’s Safe Solicitation Act and declare the act unconstitutional.
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About the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people. For more information, visit www.splcenter.org.
About the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi
The ACLU of Mississippi is dedicated to promoting, defending, and extending civil rights and civil liberties to all Mississippians, with emphasis on issues related to criminal justice reform, education opportunities, equal access/equality for all, voting rights, and governmental transparency and accountability. We accomplish our mission through legislation, litigation, and advocacy. For more information, visit www.aclu-ms.org/.