From the ACLU
"A local Arizona anti-solicitation ordinance targeting day laborers violates the free speech rights of individuals who express their availability to work by standing in public areas, charged the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in a lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
The coalition filed the lawsuit against the town of Cave Creek and the town's mayor and deputy mayor on behalf of Hector Lopez, Leopoldo Ibarra and Ismael Ibarra, three longtime day laborers and Arizona residents who in the past successfully solicited employment in Cave Creek by standing in public areas, peaceably indicating to occupants of passing vehicles their availability for temporary employment. Lopez, Ibarra and Ibarra currently wish to make their availability for day labor known but fear that they will be cited or arrested for violating the ordinance."
The ACLU continues:
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In September 2007, the Cave Creek Town Council passed an anti-solicitation ordinance that restricts free speech by prohibiting solicitation of employment, business or contributions from the occupants of vehicles when standing on or next to a street or highway - including the sidewalk. The ordinance goes so far as to bar solicitation from occupants in vehicles that are lawfully parked in public areas.
Before the town passed the ordinance, day laborers - who are usually hired by homeowners to perform services like gardening, moving, light construction, housework and painting - solicited work in public areas.
While the town was apparently motivated by a desire to target illegal immigration, the ordinance applies to everyone in Cave Creek, regardless of their nationality or immigration status. The ordinance is so overbroad that it also applies to Salvation Army bell ringers asking for holiday contributions and high school cheerleaders advertising a car wash on a sidewalk or street.
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