Homeless People in Alabama Live in Fear That the Cops Will Arrest Them Just for Begging

Police have arrested or cited Jonathan Singleton six times for holding a sign that lets passersby in Montgomery, Alabama, know he’s homeless and that “anything helps.” As part of those charges, he’s also been threatened with hundreds of dollars in fines he can’t possibly afford. “That’s why I hold the sign.” Authorities in Montgomery have written more than 400 citations like the ones Singleton’s received under the state’s two anti-panhandling statutes since July 2018. Somehow the word hasn’t gotten out, or it’s being willfully ignored.” The lawsuit — filed by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty along with the Southern Poverty Law Center and American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama — names the city of Montgomery, its sheriff, and Alabama’s secretary of law enforcement as defendants. “When you criminalize people asking for help, they’re not able to meet their basic needs that are necessary to survive; it can lead to people losing their liberty,” said Micah West, senior staff attorney at the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center.