Sit/Lie Law Prolly Not Unconstitutional (Absent An Enforcement Problem)

Am I the only one who thinks it’s funny that the same San Francisco supervisors who insisted that we push the limits of the law when it comes to sanctuary for arrested youths are suddenly reluctant to enact a sit-lie law that a court would give the side-eye? The sudden and profound respect for the law supervisors now possess is nothing short of remarkable. [If they hate the law, just say so! If they think there is a right to sit in the sidewalk, say that, too. But a professed fear of an adverse verdict is just silly in light of other legislation.]

At the Public Safety Committee hearing on whether The City should adopt a sit-lie ordinance, people repeatedly brought up the notion that such a law would be unconstitutional. Indeed, sometimes such laws have been struck down, but now that Mistermayor has released an actual proposal, we can check out whether it’s lawful.

Of course, for us lawyers, it’s impossible to give a yes or no answer. Complications are to lawyers what splinters are to carpenters, but I’ll do my best.

The sit-lie law proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom prohibits sitting or lying down on public sidewalks anywhere in The City between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. daily, with certain exceptions. (Here is a pdf: Download SitLieOrdinance.)As it’s written, it could survive a legal challenge, but it’s a little broad. If a city is going to prohibit a type of regular behavior like sitting, it generally needs to be limited to just what’s necessary to accomplish the stated goal (in this case, the goals are safety and “economic vitality”).

That the proposed ban would be citywide and in effect until 11 p.m. may cause a problem. Indeed, Mistermayor’s proposal is modeled after a Seattle law that has withstood constitutional challenges at the state and federal levels. However, Seattle’s law only applies to commercial zones and is only in effect from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. I suspect San Francisco’s will be amended thusly before all is said and done.

You know, because we wouldn’t want to do anything illegal (ahem).

[I've been getting emails all morning about this one, and people have legitimate legal questions.  However, word limitations mean that I can only cut to the chase in the paper. Obviously there are many other issues. I'll be putting up a longer piece about this on Saturday.]

Comments

[Howard Epstein]

Unfortunately its not funny that "the San Francisco supervisors who insisted that we push the limits of the law when it comes to sanctuary for arrested youths are suddenly reluctant to enact a sit-lie law that a court would give the side-eye." Its typical. Everything the "progressive" majority does is based on extreme left-wing ideology, not the law, the law of economics, common sense or accepted best practices.

[Uncle Robert]

Some People In San Francisco Need To Relax On The Sidewalk By Sitting Down. People Get Really Tired Waiting Up To 50 Minutes For The 54 Bus To Pass By.