MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the state of Alabama’s appeal in Singleton v. Taylor, a lawsuit challenging Alabama’s laws criminalizing soliciting charity. The court’s decision follows a Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that found Alabama’s anti-solicitation laws violated the First Amendment and criminalized people experiencing homelessness for holding signs asking for help to meet their basic needs.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to not hear Alabama’s appeal leaves in place a ruling from the Eleventh Circuit that states cannot criminalize people simply for holding signs expressing that they are hungry and homeless,” said Micah West, senior supervising attorney, SPLC. “The decision ends a six-year legal battle about whether the First Amendment protects the rights of people experiencing homelessness to ask for help to meet their basic needs. Although we are pleased with the Court’s decision, we cannot move toward a truly inclusive nation if the right to freely express oneself — and in this case, advocate for basic needs — is a crime.”
Since 2019, the SPLC and co-counsel National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) have represented Jonathan Singleton, an unhoused Montgomery resident who sought charitable assistance by holding signs such as “Homeless. Today, it is me. Tomorrow, it could be you.” Until the district court invalidated the laws, Alabama made it illegal to ask for financial assistance and those who did could face fines or jail time. In the two years before the SPLC filed its lawsuit, the city of Montgomery alone arrested or ticketed nearly 200 people for holding signs expressing that they needed support from their community.
“Everybody needs a little help from their neighbors sometimes — that’s not a crime,” said Will Knight, decriminalization director, NHLC. “Today, the Supreme Court upheld a basic and consensus understanding that asking for help is constitutionally protected speech. This decision sends a clear message: Stop punishing people who are trying to make ends meet. Instead of making survival a crime, lawmakers must use their power to ensure that everybody has a safe place to live, access to the care they need and food they can afford.”
Singleton and others settled the lawsuit against the city of Montgomery in 2020. As part of the settlement, the city agreed to stop arresting or ticketing people who asked for financial assistance, dismissed all pending charges in the Montgomery Municipal Court, and waived outstanding fines and court costs.
In September 2025, following the SPLC’s win in the Eleventh Circuit, the state filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Hal Taylor, the secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, seeking to overturn the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling.
The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy & Protection at Georgetown Law joined SPLC and NHLC as co-counsel in defeating the atate’s request for review by the Supreme Court.
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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.