Video: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Challenging Michigan's Anti-Begging Law
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Ernest Sims is a veteran who survives on a $260 disability check for survival. When that's not enough, he asked people for spare change on the public streets of Grand Rapids.
On July 4, 2011, a Grand Rapids police officer arrested Sims for asking for change for bus fare. Sims has since pleaded guilty and was sentenced to $100 or two days in jail.
In a victory for free speech, the federal court of appeals ruled unanimously that Michigan’s state law criminalizing peaceful panhandling in all public places is unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan first filed the lawsuit in September 2011 against the state and the City of Grand Rapids.