City of Ontario: Panhandling and Solicitation Ordinance

The City of Ontario, Ohio, maintains an ordinance that broadly bans “panhandling” across numerous public spaces while exempting similar solicitation activity by schools and nonprofit organizations. On April 29, FIRE wrote the city, explaining that the First Amendment protects charitable solicitation by organizations or by individuals seeking assistance for themselves, and calling on the city to repeal or amend the ordinance.