Category Archives: panhandling
Mayor’s Panhandling Proposal Allows 180 Days in Jail, Even on First Offense (UPDATE 1)
(APN) ATLANTA — Mayor Kasim Reed said that he was vetoing legislation that passed City Council concerning aggressive panhandling because it was cruel, harsh, and inhumane; however, Atlanta Progressive News has learned that the Mayor’s proposal in fact provides for the same maximum jail sentence–180 days in jail–for any offense of aggressive panhandling, and adds a minimum jail sentence for […]
Read morePanhandling Proposals Likely Unconstitutional; CSO Never Enforced
(APN) ATLANTA — Today, the City Council of Atlanta is hosting a second Work Session on proposed changes to the City’s Commercial Solicitation Ordinance (CSO), which has not been enforced since its enactment in 2005. However, Atlanta Progressive News has learned that, according to Gerry Weber, a constitutional scholar who teaches at Emory University School of Law, neither the current […]
Read moreChannel 2 Errs on Task Force, CBS 46 Errs on Panhandling
(APN) ATLANTA – Over the past few days Channel 2 WSB-TV News and Channel 46 CBS Atlanta have ran stories making major errors in regards to issues affecting homeless people in Atlanta. Channel 2 ran a report stating that the largest shelter in the southeastern US, the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, was about to imminently close, citing […]
Read moreBond Seeks More Prison for Aggressive Panhandlers in Atlanta
(APN) ATLANTA — Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large), who serves as Chair of the Public Safety/Legal Administration (PS/LA) Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta, has introduced legislation which seeks to increase the penalty for individuals convicted of aggressive panhandling to six months of prison time, for any third and subsequent offenses. Introduction of the legislation–which Bond said was […]
Read more