Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission v. City of Colorado Springs

In reaction to reports that some panhandlers in downtown Colorado Springs were intimidating and harassing pedestrians, the City enacted an ordinance that establishes a “Downtown No-Solicitation Zone” that applies in a twelve-city-block area that includes a city park and the central business and shopping district of downtown Colorado Springs.

The expansive definition of “solicitation” in the new ordinance banishes a substantial amount of peaceful, non-intrusive, and constitutionally-protected expression. Nonprofit organizations are forbidden to ask passersby for donations. Street musicians violate the ordinance by playing music while silently soliciting tips with a hat or open guitar case. Needy persons violate the ordinance by silently holding a sign that reads: “please help.” Hawking newspapers violates the ordinance, which also forbids the Salvation Army to deploy the familiar bell-ringers in Santa costumes.

Shortly after the ordinance was enacted, the ACLU filed a complaint in federal district court seeking an order permanently enjoining enforcement of the ordinance. Plaintiffs include several non-profits that seek donations in the downtown area; a street musician who plays music for tips in the downtown area; a needy person who requests assistance from passersby in the downtown area; and two Colorado Springs residents who want to receive requests for assistance from poor persons, non-profits and street musicians while in downtown Colorado Springs.

Meet our clients who joined us in standing up for free speech in Colorado Springs.

Read the Colorado Springs Indpendent's 2/20/13 article about the city's dubious attempts to claim a legal victory 

Read the Denver Post's 12/21/12 Editorial 

Read the Colorado Springs Gazette's 12/20/12 Editorial