Dealing with day laborers

Redondo Beach has spent nearly a decade defending a misguided 1986 city ordinance that bans day laborers from soliciting work from public sidewalks, alleys, medians or highways.

Lawyers for the city say the law is designed to stop individuals from spilling out into traffic while looking for work and jeopardizing public safety. A district court tossed out the ordinance as an unconstitutional restriction of free speech. City officials persisted with a legal appeal, ignoring previous trial court decisions overturning similar laws, and instead arguing that the measure doesn’t seek to limit what people say on public sidewalks, just how they behave.

On Friday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected both the city’s argument and a three-judge panel’s previous decision and struck down the ordinance. In a 9-2 decision, the majority found the law unconstitutional, noting that it was so broad it could be applied to “children selling lemonade in front of their homes” or Girl Scouts selling cookies outside grocery stores.

No one disputes that Redondo Beach has a right to enact laws that protect residents and punish those whose behavior puts the public at risk. It’s unfortunate, however, that city officials failed to use common sense to address the problem. Police already have an arsenal of laws available to them to arrest or fine individuals — including those seeking work — who jaywalk, trespass or illegally stop traffic. Instead, Redondo Beach officials adopted a law that created a bigger problem than the one they sought to fix.

Hopefully, last week’s decision will persuade dozens of other cities around the state to abandon similar laws. Courts have repeatedly rebuffed government efforts to limit free speech without a highly compelling reason and a narrowly tailored law. This law didn’t meet that standard.

Redondo Beach would be better served by using public funds and resources to set up sites where employers and laborers searching for an honest day’s work could gather safely.