The full panel of judges of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will reconsider a ruling that police in Redondo Beach, California can arrests day laborers soliciting work on sidewalks and medians. -db
Courthouse News Service
October 18, 2010
(CN) – The 9th Circuit has agreed to reconsider its June ruling that police in Redondo Beach, Calif., can arrest day laborers who solicit work from people in cars.
The Comite de Jornaleros de Redondo Beach and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network argued that the ordinance violates the free-speech and equal protection rights of job seekers who congregated on sidewalks and medians.
A 9th Circuit panel voted 2-1 to uphold the ordinance in June, saying it is not impermissibly vague and is narrowly tailored to address safety concerns, including traffic hazards.
But dissenting Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw said the nearly 25-year-old ordinance is “overbroad and thus violates well-established principles of our First Amendment jurisprudence.”
The judges on Friday voted to rehear the case before a full 11-judge panel.
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