HB 1197, The Safe Solicitation Act, is set to be signed by Governor Reeves this week. Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of MS, has issued the following statement:
While Mississippi has a low rate of homelessness compared to other states, there is a growing number of unhoused Mississippians living in metro Jackson and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Many of these individuals have little access to social services, public transportation and shelter.
HB 1197, titled the Safe Solicitation Act, does nothing to address those challenges. Instead, it burdens cities and counties with administering a bureaucratic licensing scheme, while providing no funds to implement or support citizens struggling to find shelter or food.
This legislation would require any individual asking for cash or anything of value, while positioned near a public street, to obtain a license from the prospective city or county.
Local governments may charge up to $25 a license and the legislation limits the city or county to granting, daily, only one license per street corner, on a first come basis.
In addition to being bad public policy, the legislation will result in costly litigation. HB 1197 unlawfully infringes on the constitutional right to freedom of speech and threatens to penalize indigent people for their poverty.
This bill only applies to people that “request money or anything of value as a donation or contribution.” It does not apply to someone standing on the street promoting their business or the politicians out canvassing for votes.
Cities or counties may place reasonable limits related to time, manner and place of speech taking place in public spaces. However, when a government regulates the content of a person’s speech, that government is violating the First Amendment.
Content-based restrictions allow some speech and not other types of speech at the same location, or they impose different rules for the same type of speech.
HB 1197 places different rules on people depending on the words they are using. The police will literally have to police the speech of an individual, to determine if he or she made statements that require a government permit.
We urge Governor Reeves to veto this unconstitutional and inhumane piece of legislation and implore legislators to propose real solutions for addressing homelessness and housing affordability.
