One current and two former Glendale residents filed a lawsuit alleging the city’s panhandling bans violate their First Amendment rights to engage in constitutionally protected speech.
In this suit, announced July 30, these residents are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Glendale from enforcing the unconstitutional ordinances. They are represented by Public Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, and the First Amendment Clinic at Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Glendale passed the two ordinances in October 2022, just months before it played host to Super Bowl LVII. The panhandling ordinance forbids people from asking for money, donations, or other items of value in public — including on public transit, at a bus stop, from someone in a car and several other places.
