Legal advocacy organization files suit against Morgantown over panhandling ban

A legal advocacy organization has filed a lawsuit against the city of Morgantown, alleging the city is violating the First Amendment rights by enforcing a 2005 panhandling ban.

Mountain State Justice filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia on behalf of Anthony Rowand, an unemployed Monongalia County resident who — according to the lawsuit — relies on panhandling to cover his basic needs and those of his girlfriend, and others similarly situated. 

According to the complaint, Rowand was working as an electrician when he came to the area two and a half years ago, but has not had regular employment for “some time.” The man is unhoused, the complaint says, but has lived in the same location for many months. 

The complaint says the city had not regularly enforced a 2005 ordinance prohibiting panhandling in recent years. Last summer, though, Rowand began receiving tickets and fines under the ordinance as city police “began more rigorous enforcement.” 

The man has continued to solicit donations, and has been repeatedly ticketed, racking up fines he is unable to pay, the complaint says. 

The lawsuit argues that panhandling and soliciting of charitable donations constitute speech protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Rowand is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as individual damages.

A spokesperson for the city of Morgantown said Monday the city does not comment on potential or pending litigation. 

The lawsuit was filed the same day the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which has been called the most significant case about homelessness in decades. The case is about an Oregon city’s public camping ban targeting homeless people. Justices will decide whether generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

“As the Supreme Court today considers the limits on punishing people for experiencing  homelessness, we want West Virginians who are struggling to know that we’re in their corner,” Mountain State Justice staff attorney Lesley Nash said in a news release. “Soliciting charity is speech protected by the First Amendment and we aim to protect that right in Morgantown, Monongalia County, and through West Virginia.”