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Robert Fernandez believes asking for money along the road is his constitutional right. He regularly seeks donations near the West County Center mall — and has no plans to stop.

“He does what he does,� attorney Bevis Schock told municipal Judge Chuck H. Billings at a hearing on Monday. “I’m here today to defend his right to do so.�

Officials in Des Peres and other St. Louis County suburbs have said panhandling is surging, as are complaints from their residents. Many have changed their laws to curb the stream. But the outcome of Fernandez’ case may influence panhandling enforcement in suburbs across the region.

In May last year, a federal judge struck down county vagrancy and solicitation laws and awarded Fernandez $150,000 plus attorney’s fees. Fernandez, who was then homeless, had been arrested four times and been given 31 citations under the county laws for holding up a sign and asking for cash at highway exit medians.

On Monday, more than a year and a half after that legal win, Fernandez appeared in Des Peres municipal court, arguing to dismiss citations for solicitation. Des Peres police cited him five times from May through September for approaching drivers in the roadway.

Fernandez’s attorneys, Schock and Hugh Eastwood, argued that Des Peres’ law remains an unconstitutional restriction on free speech “targeted only to disfavor unpopular speech, namely soliciting alms.�

Fernandez declined to comment, citing the advice of his attorneys. He now has a home but still regularly asks for donations at the busy exit of Interstate 270 at Manchester Road and, Schock said, still supports himself via panhandling.

City prosecutor Tony Pezzani argued in support of the city law Monday, emphasizing that the ordinance bans all types of solicitation and messaging in the roadway, not just panhandling, because of concerns for public safety.

“ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ want you to believe the city is attacking the message,â€� Pezzani said. “It’s attacking the conduct.â€�

A significant ruling

U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. in his 2021 ruling said Fernandez was engaging in protected First Amendment speech.

The judge prohibited the enforcement of three ordinances: one banning vagrancy, one barring soliciting in a roadway and another covering solicitor licensing.

The county had a double standard, he said. It required a license for “those asking for ‘property or financial assistance’ or selling or taking orders for certain items,� he wrote, but not when, for example, “advocating for a political cause, soliciting votes or seeking petition signatures.�

Limbaugh said the county had failed to back up its claims that the ordinances promoted safety of traffic and pedestrians, saying “many other forms of roadside expression, such as protesting, soliciting signature petitions, campaigning or evangelizing,� could also distract drivers.

The ruling prompted cities across the St. Louis suburbs, including Des Peres, to amend laws specifically banning panhandling to instead prohibit people from activities like approaching drivers, standing in medians or walking in the street.

In Manchester, the city this year banned all pedestrians or wheelchair users in the right of way, including on medians, when a sidewalk is available. Chesterfield added a measure to its sign ordinance to prohibit all soliciting in rights of way. Brentwood in February passed a ban on pedestrians disrupting traffic, made it illegal to distribute or receive anything from vehicles and required roadside solicitors to get licenses from the city.

In Des Peres, City Administrator Douglas Harms said Monday that the city has long banned soliciting on roadways for both charities and people asking for cash. The city modified its ordinance after the Fernandez ruling to include language distinguishing more clearly between door-to-door sales people and pedestrian solicitation, he said.

The Des Peres ordinance used to cite Fernandez bans all solicitors from city roadways and medians.

“It’s purely a matter of public safety,� Harms said Monday. “We get a lot of phone calls from people with safety concerns about them in the medians.�

Harms said panhandlers can still ask for money on the sidewalk.

But Fernandez’s lawyer Schock argued Monday that public safety arguments are a pretense meant to block Fernandez from the city’s highest traffic areas.

“We must not claim that something is based on safety when the real purpose is to eliminate speech that is disfavored,� Shock said, arguing that medians should constitute a public forum for free speech.

Judge Billings said he will issue a ruling on the cases at a later date. A second hearing is set for Jan. 3.