A federal judge has ruled in favor of the City of Dallas’ median ban — denying a request to temporarily block the City from enforcing its prohibition against standing on public medians, which critics claim discriminates against panhandlers.
U.S. District Judge Ada Brown ruled Friday to deny a preliminary injunction of the ban. As reported by The Dallas Express, another federal judge recommended denying the injunction in July, saying the City ordinance is too “narrowly tailored” to violate the First Amendment. Brown sided with this recommendation.
“The objections are overruled, and the court accepts the findings, conclusions, and recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge,” Brown said in her ruling, per The Dallas Morning News.
Had the injunction been authorized, it would have blocked the City from issuing citations to people violating the ordinance until a lawsuit regarding the constitutionality of the ordinance was settled.
As reported by The Dallas Express, the Dallas City Council passed the ordinance last October, prohibiting “standing and walking on medians measuring six feet or less in width.” Those who violate the prohibition can be fined up to $500, according to the ordinance.
Critics allege the ordinance unfairly targets panhandlers. The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) sued the City of Dallas on these grounds in December, claiming the ordinance violates their First Amendment rights.
Although Dallas residents consider panhandling — along with homelessness and vagrancy — a “serious problem,” it is protected under the First Amendment, according to the Supreme Court.
In April, attorneys sought a preliminary injunction to prohibit enforcement of the ordinance, arguing that enforcement should be halted because they would likely win their lawsuit against the City.
Judge Brown has now ruled against that injunction.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver, who previously recommended denying the injunction, said the City of Dallas “correctly points out that the ordinance allows a number of alternative areas where members of the public may engage in all manner of speech such as sidewalks, public parks, and medians wider than six feet.”
However, attorneys maintain that the ordinance is “discriminatory.”
In a statement to The Dallas Express, TCRP attorney Travis Fife said the policy “puts people who are unhoused at risk of getting targeted and criminalized simply for asking for help.”
“The City of Dallas has put a target on their backs with this ordinance and is violating the First Amendment rights of everyone in the city in the process,” the statement continued. “While we are disappointed with this decision, we are not done fighting for the rights of our clients, and are determined to protect members of the unhoused community from this discriminatory policy.”
