Attorney General Alan Wilson addresses homelessness crisis and vagrancy

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) -South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced he is leading a 20-state friend-of-the-court brief asking the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to allow states to combat homelessness and vagrancy.

“The homelessness and poverty crisis does not stay within state lines,” Attorney General Wilson said. “Each state should be able to protect its citizens while also creating constructive and long-term solutions to this problem.”

According to recent Census data, the poverty rate currently sits at 10.6 percent, which accounts for nearly 40 million Americans. Alongside a recent Executive Order from President Trump, states across the nation already regulate public begging to ensure safety for their citizens.

The issue at hand is whether laws that regulate public begging violate the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech. The decision of the lower court on an Alabama law supersedes the ability of every state to regulate panhandling.

“In our judicial system, the court is the umpire,” Wilson continued. “It calls balls and strikes but doesn’t get a turn at bat.”

Joining Attorney General Wilson on the brief in the Alabama case are the attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

You can read the brief here.