ACLU threatens Herndon with lawsuit
By: Gregg MacDonald

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has threatened to seek an injunction against the Town of Herndon if the town chooses to enforce an ordinance that was ruled unconstitutional.

The ordinance restricts where communications between employers of day laborers and their prospective employees may occur.

The ACLU's request follows a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge's ruling last week dismissing criminal charges against Stephen Andrew Thomas of Reston.

Thomas was cited last year after asking two men in a Herndon parking lot to assist him with yard work.
Fairfax County Judge Leslie M. Alden ruled last week that Herndon's Vehicle Solicitation Ordinance violates the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.

In a letter sent last Friday to Herndon Town Attorney Richard B. Kaufman, ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Rebecca Glenberg and ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project Staff Attorney Monica M. Ramirez seek written assurances by this Friday, Sept. 7, that the ordinance will not be enforced.

Absent such assurances, the ACLU will proceed with plans to file a federal lawsuit to prevent enforcement of the ordinance.

Town spokeswoman Anne Curtis told The Times that the ordinance was suspended as of Thursday, Aug. 30. The Town has not yet determined whether it will appeal the Circuit Court decision.

On Tuesday, Town Attorney Richard Kaufman said that he had received the ACLU letter.
"I have reviewed the letter and have drafted a response," he said. He would not elaborate on the wording of the response.

The Herndon ordinance prohibits pedestrians from soliciting employment from anyone who is an occupant of, or temporarily leaves, a vehicle. It also prohibits the occupant of a vehicle, or someone who temporarily exits a vehicle, from soliciting any pedestrian.

The ordinance applies to individuals on "any portion of a highway, sidewalk, driveway, parking area or alley." Under the ordinance, the Herndon Official Workers Center, is the only location where vehicular solicitation is allowed.

"An ordinance that prevents an employer from pulling his car into a parking lot, leaving the car and talking to prospective employees has nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with the shameful anti-immigrant sentiment that is sweeping through Northern Virginia communities," said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis.

"In this case, the free speech clause of the Constitution comes to the rescue by protecting the right of all employers and employees to communicate with each other."

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