Cave Creek to try banning day laborers again
by Beth Duckett - Jun. 17, 2008 01:31 PM
The Arizona Republic
CAVE CREEK - The Town Council could return this summer with a second ordinance banning day laborers from soliciting work on town streets after throwing out its first law this week.

The council on Monday voted 6-1 to kill the town's anti-solicitation ordinance after a federal judge blocked the town from enforcing it.

Vice-Mayor Gilbert Lopez voted against the action. He helped write the first ordinance.
Fearing a drain on taxpayers' money, council members opted not to appeal the ruling. Instead, they plan to rework the ordinance in hopes it will pass legal muster.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver ruled this month that the ordinance, which bars anyone from standing on or near town roads to solicit work, impinges on free-speech rights.

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed this spring by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which challenged the law's constitutionality.

Dan Pochoda, legal director for the ACLU of Arizona, said the town's decision to kill the ordinance does not stamp out the lawsuit.

"The defendants unilaterally cannot declare a lawsuit over," Pochoda said.

Cave Creek Mayor Vincent Francia said he will make a motion to orchestrate a new law at a July 7 Town Council meeting.

Francia said Cave Creek "will not wait" for House Bill 2412, an anti-solicitation bill sponsored by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills.

The legislation, which is now in the Senate, would make it illegal for laborers to solicit employment if traffic is disrupted.

Town Attorney Gary Birnbaum said the town's new ordinance must be narrowly tailored and focus on conduct, not speech.

Critics argue it would be subject to the same legal stronghold.

"Cave Creek thought out (the first one) and it turned out to be clearly unconstitutional," Pochoda said. "It's obviously motivated by the same rationale."

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