A Gainesville nonprofit has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of two Seminole County residents, arguing that a county ordinance criminalizes the act of seeking charity donations in public spaces in violation of constitutional rights.

The group Southern Legal Counsel filed the lawsuit challenging Seminole County’s anti-panhandling ordinance on June 5 in the Middle District of Florida. The plaintiffs – homeless individuals who depend on solicitations to obtain necessities such as food, water, clothes and hygiene products – contend the ordinance is not narrowly tailored and violates the First Amendment.

“A person seeking to engage in other forms of speech under similar circumstances as those seeking charity – such as asking for votes, requesting signatures on a petition, encouraging people to join a church or picketing – may do so without impunity or fear of arrest,” the lawsuit states. “Because the ordinance restricts only certain types of speech, it is content-based and subject to strict scrutiny.”