Marceleno et al v. City of Greeley, Colorado

This lawsuit challenges a Greeley ordinance that bans all pedestrian presence in all medians throughout the city.

Laws that ban panhandling have often been used as a tool to harass poor persons and move them away from public places. In Colorado and elsewhere in the country, court have rejected or severely restricted these laws on the ground that a request for charity is expression that is protected by the First Amendment. The ACLU of Colorado has won First Amendment challenges to panhandling ordinances in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins, and outside the courtroom it has persuaded numerous jurisdictions to repeal or amend their panhandling ordinances.

Some communities, like Greeley, responded to these court decisions by targeting panhandling indirectly — by banning pedestrian presence in locations where panhandling often takes place, such as traffic medians.

This lawsuit challenges a Greeley ordinance that bans all pedestrian presence in all medians throughout the city.

The ACLU’s clients include three impoverished persons who panhandle on medians in order to obtain funds to meet their most basic needs, and a fourth individual who wants to stand on medians to convey political messages to passing vehicles.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Greeley agreed to stop enforcing the challenged ordinance and did not opposed the ACLU's motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. The Court entered a stipulated preliminary injunction, and Greeley repealed the challenged ordinance a month later.

"Greeley rolls back ban on lingering in medians," Colorado Politics, October 17, 2019

"City of Greeley suspends ordinance banning pedestrians from medians," Greeley Tribune, September 12, 2019

"Greeley halts enforcement of pedestrian median ban after ACLU sues," Colorado Politics, September 10, 2019