- Posted October 29, 2013
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Men who fought panhandling law each get $6,500 settlement
GRAND RAPIDS (AP) -- Two men who successfully fought the state's panhandling law after being arrested in Grand Rapids in 2011 for panhandling will each get $6,500 as part of a $48,000 settlement with the city.
The Grand Rapids Press reports the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented James Speet and Ernest Sims, gets the remaining $35,000 toward attorney fees.
In 2012, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that the law banning panhandling in public places violated First Amendment protections for free speech and the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. The decision was upheld by a federal appeals panel.
City attorney Catherine Mish confirmed terms of the recently approved settlement. She called it a difficult case. That's in part since the city had to defend a law it didn't put on the books.
Published: Tue, Oct 29, 2013
headlines Oakland County
- Meet the Judges
- Phishing and Smishing and Skimming and Shimming: Nessel encourages public to watch out for common scams during NFL Draft
- 56 years later, bias case is closed: Hamtramck completes new housing
- Attorneys to explain new U.S. DOL rules
- Michigan employers, local partners spotlight Gov. Whitmer’s budget recommendations and benefits for Going PRO Talent Fund
headlines National
- New Legalese: You may have heard a deepfake, but what about ‘Twiqbal’?
- From Intake to Outcome: An in-house lawyer’s guide to matter management solutions
- 2 BigLaw firms in merger talks that could produce 1,600-lawyer firm with top 50 revenue
- Send in the paralegals
- Lawyer reprimanded after mistakenly emailing opposing counsel with plan to avoid judge’s call
- ‘I don’t play well’ judge who threatened to track down, jail misbehaving litigant gets tossed from case