Joliet Cops Violating Homeless Man's Constitutional Right to Panhandle: Lawsuit

Joliet police officers waged a campaign to stymie a homeless man's constitutional right to panhandle, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

"The federal courts have determined that people have constitutionally protected free speech and the right to panhandle," said Joliet attorney John Schrock, who represents homeless man Brian Davidson.

Davidson, 33, was subjected to a police "campaign to intimidate, harass, arrest and prosecute (him) for his panhandling in Joliet," the lawsuit said.

Last summer, an officer told Davidson he was a "pain" and "should just leave Joliet," the lawsuit said. The officer also allegedly told Davidson he "should get out of town or it would get worse for" him.

Davidson was sleeping in a tent behind the Republic Banquet Hall when the same officer "destroyed" the tent and "threw (Davidson's) personal belongings in a garbage dumpster," the lawsuit said.

Another officer told Davidson to leave town on Christmas Day, the suit said, and the following month an officer drove Davidson to Channahon and dumped him off there, leaving him stranded. Davidson was "forced to walk back to Joliet in sub-zero temperatures," the suit said.

The police went on to cite Davidson for such "crimes" as "pedestrian constitutes a hazard," "subject standing in median with sign," "walking back and forth in the middle of the road," "walking in the highway while (he) was panhandling," and "pedestrian in roadway," the lawsuit said.

Schrock said Davidson has already lost some of these cases but he has defended him in others since taking on the civil action.

The City of Joliet's "soliciting ordinace," which the police use to curb panhandling, is unconstitutional, Schrock said. The lawsuit seeks to stop the city from enforcing the panhandling law and clear the way for Davidson to continue looking for handouts.

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