Abstract
In 2021, the Tenth Circuit held a ban targeting pedestrians on street medians in Albuquerque, New Mexico unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Citing a crisis of pedestrian fatalities, Albuquerque has since promulgated a new pedestrian-safety ordinance with an adjusted median ban that prohibits pedestrians from sitting or standing on certain street medians. This ban not only fails to increase pedestrian safety but also arbitrarily blames the city’s poorest residents and poses a threat to First Amendment freedoms. Because the city cannot produce case-specific evidence to show that the ban is narrowly tailored to ameliorate a nonspeculative harm, the current ban in Albuquerque should be struck down as an improper time, place, and manner regulation. Instead of walking the line on safety and free speech, local governments should sidestep the issue altogether. Municipalities like Albuquerque should support charitable solicitors instead of criminalizing conduct critical to the survival of those who must panhandle along city streets. Proposed alternatives include mobile outreach and support services, deflection programs, and daily labor initiatives.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Taylor J. Black,
Walking the Line on Safety and Free Speech: Sidestepping First Amendment Challenges to Median Bans,
55
N.M. L. Rev.
463
(2025).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/vol55/iss2/6
