Lang
4/6/22
The Iowa Civil Liberties Union has sent a letter to Coralville and three other Eastern Iowa cites threatening legal action if anti-panhandling ordinances aren’t repealed.
The letter says ordinances against aggressive panhandling in Coralville, Davenport, Bettendorf and Dubuque violate First Amendment rights and criminalize poverty. It goes on to demand that the four cities repeal their ordinances, instruct police not to enforce the ordinances during the repeal process and drop all charges against those who have already been cited.
The Iowa ACLU sent similar letters to the cities of Des Moines, Council Bluffs and Grimes in 2018.
All three cities have since repealed their aggressive panhandling ordinances.