Judge Declares Salida Loitering Ordinance
Unconstitutional After ACLU Challenge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 1997
A legal challenge mounted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (ACLU) has resulted in a ruling declaring unconstitutional a controversial new Salida ordinance that prohibits adults from spending more than five minutes in a public place after 11 p.m. The ordinance, enacted by the Salida City Council on May 19, outlaws "loitering," which is defined as remaining in one location for over five minutes. The ordinance defines "one location" as "any two points within two hundred feet of each other."
Salida police have charged 22 individuals with violating the ordinance since its enactment.
The ACLU presented evidence and argument in the Salida Municipal Court on September 3, and Judge William Alterton entered his written ruling September 8. After declaring that the ordinance violates fundamental rights and is "unenforceable," Judge Alterton dismissed the charges against Josh Edelstein, who was represented by the ACLU, and Brad Spence, whose case was heard at the same time.
Edelstein, 25, lives in a downtown apartment located above a business. He was standing on the sidewalk across from of his apartment saying goodbye to some friends when he received a ticket on June 11. The ticket charged that Mr. Edelstein "stayed in an area of less than two hundred feet for more than five minutes."
"Judge Alterton’s ruling is a refreshing victory for common sense as well as constitutional rights," said Mark Silverstein, ACLU Legal Director, who co-counseled the case with ACLU volunteer cooperating attorney Ernest Marquez of Salida.
"Judge Alterton held that individuals have a fundamental right to stand on the sidewalk or to walk peacefully through the City," said Marquez. "This ordinance made it a crime to wait for a ride in front of a downtown theater after the late show lets out," Marquez said. "The Constitution does not permit the government to pass a law that transforms such ordinary innocent activity into a criminal offense."
The loitering ordinance has produced dissension and division in the small town of Salida, which is located about two and a half hours southwest of Denver. On Friday August 22, 120 residents staged a "loiter-in" at 11 p.m. to protest the ordinance and to sign a petition urging its repeal. Several businesses have offered discounts to patrons who can produce a ticket for loitering.
As a legal matter, Judge Alterton’s ruling applies only to the two defendants whose loitering cases he dismissed. In light of that ruling, however, the ACLU said that it would immediately write to Salida authorities and ask them to agree to stop enforcing the ordinance against others.