Comite De Jornaleros v. City of Redondo

A city ordinance that prevents a person from soliciting cars on the sidewalk is facially unconstitutional if it is not narrowly tailored to restrict the types of solicitation sought to be discouraged.

Redondo Beach Municipality (Redondo) wanted to restrict day laborers from soliciting work alongside a road where they often congregate. Redondo modeled a city ordinance that restricted road side soliciting after one in Phoenix which was found to be Constitutional by the Ninth Circuit. The Redondo ordinance however restricted soliciting from the sidewalk whereas the Phoenix ordinance prohibited soliciting in the streets themselves. After the ordinance went into effect and many day laborers were written up and detained for violating the ordinance, Comite de Jornaleros de Redondo Beach (Comite) and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) filed this complaint alleging that the ordinance was unconstitutional. The district court found for the plaintiffs and the Ninth Circuit affirms. The labor organizations have standing on the issue because they diverted their funds towards providing council for the workers that where cited under the ordinance. The ordinance was overbroad for being construed to prohibit many more kinds of free speech than it was intended to restrict. Sidewalks are deemed to be a part of the public forum and restricting all solicitation would be overly burdensome. In order to stop the soliciting of day laborers in the street the ordinance must be narrowly tailored to those ends. AFFIRMED