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Judge awards homeless man $150K in Missouri panhandling case
May 12, 2021
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ST. LOUIS (AP) A federal judge says a Missouri county cannot enforce ordinances that target panhandlers and violate their free-speech rights, and has awarded $150,000 to a homeless man who was cited 31 times.
Robert Fernandez has also been arrested four times in St. Louis County for soliciting without a license.
“County police officers repeatedly arrested and detained (Fernandez) for engaging in protected First Amendment speech, pursuant to an unconstitutional ordinance defendant implemented and enforced,” U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. wrote in his decision Tuesday.
The judge said the county cannot enforce an anti-vagrancy ordinance, one barring people from standing in a road to solicit, and another covering solicitor licensing, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Curfew, capacity restrictions lifted at St. Louis area restaurants, but mask mandate stays Jacob Kuerth, Dori Olmos
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Restaurants in St. Louis and St. Louis County will be able to reopen at full capacity beginning Monday after more than a year of coronavirus-related restrictions on capacity and hours of operation.
But don t expect businesses to be crowded at the levels they were before the pandemic.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones made the announcements Monday morning during a joint news conference.
The capacity limit was lifted for businesses in both the city and county. However, all businesses must still allow for social distancing. At restaurants, for example, tables and parties need to be separated by 6 feet of distance. So, the business capacity is no longer limited by a percentage but is based on social distancing.