UPDATE: ACLU asks Colorado Springs to halt illegal code enforcement

The American Civil Liberties Union says the city of Colorado Springs is illegally issuing citations and in some cases arresting people under the city’s solicitation laws.

The ACLU says that more than one-third of the cases involving the ordinances involve people engaged in “passive solicitation,” which is defined as passively sitting or standing with a sign or other indication that the person is asking for donations.

Passive solicitation is not considered solicitation, according to Section 9.2.111 and Section 10.18.112 of the Colorado Springs City Municipal Code.

“Colorado Springs is already wielding its enforcement powers to target poor and homeless persons for extra-legal, discriminatory, and fundamentally unfair treatment,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado legal director. “We urge the city to rethink how its criminal justice system interacts with residents who are experiencing poverty. Instead of adopting yet another measure that targets the poor, the City needs to get its house, and its justice system, in order.”

In a letter, the ACLU is demanding that the city to stop illegally enforcing solicitation laws, as well as dismissing any charges against people who were charged for passive solicitation.

The city issued a statement Tuesday evening in response to the ACLU’s letter:

“The City received the ACLU’s letter late yesterday afternoon. Though we have no knowledge of improper application of the City’s solicitation ordinances, the City believes it is important to investigate the assertions made by the ACLU carefully and, if warranted, take appropriate action. Consequently, City staff is developing a work plan to gather information and determine the facts. The City will be responding to the letter, in due course, as this effort proceeds.”

Silverstein said the ACLU is also against the city’s proposed sit-lie ordinance.If approved, sitting and lying down on sidewalks would be illegal in areas of Downtown and Old Colorado City. Violators would also face a $2,000 fine and up to 189 days in jail.

“Sitting is an innocent activity and to make it a crime punishable by six months in jail is really an unnecessary and unjustifiable government overreach,” said Silverstein.

Downtown business owner Lane Williams said Tuesday he supported the city’s ordinance directed at soliciting as well as the proposed sitting ban. He says the sidewalks in front of his business at Pikes Peak Avenue and Tejon Street have become an informal hangout spot.

“It’s been habitually getting worse because now the word travels that this is the social corner, something like that. It attracts the drug dealers for that reason, the partiers, the vagrants and homeless, which in my mind are different,” said Williams.

He said the city must crack down, or issues with groups hanging out downtown will continue to drive away customers.

“There have to be boundaries for people who abuse the system and take advantage of it. To keep them in check. That’s the line we are at and that’s what we are struggling with,” said Williams.

A homeless man who identifies himself as “Red” hangs out on the corner near Williams’ office. He propped up a sign inside his violin case that said “anything helps.”

“I hold a sign so it’s up to you to look, read it, and make your choice without feeling intrusive, without feeling harassed,” said Red.

He said there are people that come to the city that don’t know the rules about passive solicitation. He said while he needs money, he also wants to do his best to respect other people and the city’s rules.

“I may not live a life that people approve of, but I won’t give you a reason to hate me,” said Red.

The public will have a chance to weigh in on the sitting ban at a public meeting hosted on Thursday at the Westside Community Center on West Bijou Street.