Anne Arundel County soon could get its long-sought ban on roadside panhandling, but the bill?s prohibition on campaign sign waving has caught the attention of lawmakers from other parts of the state.
Sen. Andrew Harris, R-Baltimore County, tried to amend the bill during Senate floor debate earlier this week to remove the ban on electioneering, but his attempt failed. The Senate approved the bill 26-9 Thursday morning.
“Political speech is something we should go out of the way to protect,” Harris said, holding up a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union calling the provision “clearly unconstitutional.”
Sen. John Astle, chairman of the Anne Arundel County Senate delegation that sponsored the bill, said the Maryland Attorney General?s Office had written a letter deeming the bill constitutional because it didn?t discriminate against one political party.
Senators who objected to the bill faced an uphill climb thanks to an unwritten General Assembly custom called local courtesy. Local courtesy typically guarantees passage of local bills if the local lawmakers have approved them.
Anne Arundel senators approved the panhandling bill earlier this month. The bill outlaws roadside solicitation, campaign sign waving and roadside advertising by individuals standing in the median or public right of way area along county highways.
Harris and other senators worried about people being unfairly penalized for not knowing they were in the right of way or not being aware of the county ban.
During a Senate JudicialProceedings Committee meeting, Sen. Jamie Raskin, D-Montgomery, a constitutional lawyer, first questioned whether the ban on electioneering was legal, but later changed his mind.
He cited a U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that upheld such restrictions on free speech in the name of public safety.
