Advocates say a new law designed to regulate panhandling in Jacksonville is \u201cgrossly hypocritical\u201d as the city looks for ways to lower its number of traffic deaths.<\/p>\n
On February 14, Jacksonville\u2019s city council passed an ordinance by a 16-3 margin that prohibits \u201cany physical interaction between a pedestrian and an occupant of a motor vehicle\u201d such as giving homeless panhandlers money or food. It also prohibits people from selling items on the medians unless they receive a permit from the city.<\/p>\n
The Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office began enforcing the law on March 17, about 30 days after it passed.<\/p>\n
Councilman Kevin Carrico, who introduced the legislation, said during the meeting that it is \u201cnot an attack on homelessness.\u201d Instead, Carrico said the bill will \u201ckeep citizens safer\u201d by regulating activity on Jacksonville\u2019s roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a way to make our streets a little safer,\u201d Carrico said.<\/p>\n
Despite the bill passing with 16 votes, some of its supporters expressed reservations about it. For instance, councilwoman Tyrona Clark-Murray said the bill could impact the ability of youth sports teams to raise money for new equipment and uniforms. It could also reduce connections between people experiencing homelessness and charitable individuals, Clark-Murray said, referring to an instance where a professional football player gave a homeless family enough money to stay at a hotel for a month.<\/p>\n
Councilman Reggie Gaffney, Jr., who voted against the bill, said the bill is poorly timed and could negatively impact people in his district who are struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see a rise in incarcerations; I can see discrimination; I can see resisting arrest,\u201d Gaffney said during the meeting. \u201cI am not sure we are doing ourselves a service by passing this bill.<\/p>\n
Advocates like John White, an English professor at the University of North Florida, described the new ordinance as \u201cgrossly hypocritical\u201d because the bill\u2019s supporters failed to show a correlation between panhandling and Florida\u2019s traffic deaths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is yet another attempt by city leaders to hide the terrible effects of poverty from those who don\u2019t wish to see it,\u201d White wrote in an op-ed for the Florida Times-Union.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Traffic Deaths<\/b><\/p>\n
White argues that the need for the bill is overblown, and the data Carrico cites to back up his argument is faulty.<\/p>\n
Carrico cites data from urban development nonprofit Smart Growth America\u2019s 2022 Dangerous By Design report that ranks Jacksonville as the 6th most dangerous city in the U.S. for pedestrians because it had an average of 3.44 deaths per 100,000 residents between 2016 and 2020.<\/p>\n
But a closer look at the data shows that Jacksonville\u2019s roads are not as deadly as other Florida cities despite its high fatality rate. Between 2019 and 2020, the average number of daily walking trips increase by 60% in Jacksonville while its fatality rate increased by 0.19 points, according to SGA. The city\u2019s fatality rate increase was lower than other Florida cities such as Daytona Beach, Cape Coral, and Lakeland\u2014all of which saw their fatality rate increase by 0.59 points or more.<\/p>\n
To White, this data does not show a correlation between increased panhandling and the number of pedestrian injuries or deaths.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other words, they misuse aggregate data to hide what I believe is the real purpose of the bill: To make sure that those of us with means don\u2019t have to encounter panhandlers when driving,\u201d White wrote.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Other Panhandling Regulations Faced Legal Challenges<\/b><\/p>\n
Other cities in Florida have passed similar ordinances to restrict or prohibit panhandling near public roadways.<\/p>\n
In 2018, The City of Ocala updated its panhandling ordinance to prohibit people from asking for help within 20 feet of a business, or near bus stops and other public transportation facilities. The ACLU of Florida and the nonprofit Southern Legal Counsel sued the city in April 2021 and argued that the law was overbroad and violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by requiring police officers to examine a person\u2019s speech before enforcing the law. The city repealed the contested part of its ordinance in September 2021, according to the Ocala Gazette.<\/p>\n
Clay County, which includes Lakeside and Fleming Island, voted to introduce new restrictions on panhandling near public roads in January 2023, WJCT News reported.\u00a0 County Commissioners said they believe their ordinance will withstand legal scrutiny because it only applies to unincorporated areas of the county and does not preempt and local laws.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Alexandra Compere was the only one to oppose the bill, calling it an \u201call-or-nothing proposition.\u201d Board Vice Chairman Jim Renninger acknowledged it isn\u2019t a perfect bill, but it is meant to address \u201cpublic outcry to stop this soliciting money along the highway,\u201d WJTC reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The excuses of pedestrian safety has been used as justification for passing the law. By Robert Davis Advocates say a new law designed to regulate panhandling in Jacksonville<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,550,549],"tags":[168,961,183,241],"class_list":["post-8133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeless-voice-newspaper","category-local","category-news","tag-jacksonville","tag-kevin-carrico","tag-law","tag-panhandling"],"yoast_head":"\n