An email to a city councilman five years ago warned a crackdown on panhandling could end up costing Oklahoma City taxpayers a lot of money.

Five years later, that is exactly what has happened. And the bill could be much higher.

A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled Aug. 31 that Ordinance 25,777 violated the First Amendment.

Attorneys who challenged the constitutionality of the 2015 ordinance now are entitled to their fees, which would be paid by taxpayers.

In the Aug. 18, 2015, email, city attorney Kenneth Jordan warned the "downside" of adopting panhandling regulations that could be unconstitutional would be a federal lawsuit by civil rights attorneys such as ACLU Oklahoma.

That is just what happened, when a team including the ACLU, a University of Oklahoma College of Law professor, and Legal Aid sued following passage in December 2015 of restrictions on "standing, sitting or staying" in traffic medians.

Jordan advised in his email that the "right to beg or seek alms in a public place is First Amendment activity."

"If such a lawsuit were filed and was decided against the city," he said, "the city and its ad valorem taxpayers would be forced to pay the ACLU's attorney fees."

Continued here:

Email predicted taxpayers would pay price for panhandling crackdown, and they have - Oklahoman.com