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ACLU sues Springfield over Panhandling Lawsuit

ACLU
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Wikimedia Commons

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the city of Springfield over its panhandling ordinance.

The ACLU says in a news release that the ordinance is unconstitutional. The suit was filed Thursday on behalf of 61-year-old Bobby Honicutt, of Springfield, who was "threatened with criminal charges" after holding a sign asking for money last month on a public sidewalk. The sign read: "Trying to Support My Sick Wife" and "Please help."

The suit said that a couple weeks earlier, a Springfield attorney received a citation for panhandling after he held a sign and accepted donations for the American Cancer Society.

Springfield city spokeswoman Cora Scott didn't immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

In October, the city of Bolivar repealed its panhandling ordinance after the ACLU sued.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.