WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - An attorney says his client continues to be banned from a Delaware city for panhandling, despite a 2014 state Department of Justice finding calling that ban unconstitutional.
The Wilmington News Journal on Wednesday obtained the 2014 pleading saying Wilmington's citywide no-contact bail condition was unconstitutional as applied to Shawn Burgan. In 2012, Burgan's public defender, Daniel Strumpf, fought back against Burgan's repeated arrests for loitering by arguing the charge restricted Burgan's free speech.
When the state DOJ agreed with Strumpf, Burgan's charges were dropped. But Strumpf says Burgan is still banned from Wilmington and has been arrested for allegedly violating the geographic no-contact order.
A DOJ spokesman says department pleadings are not binding on the courts. But the ACLU and other groups are now investigating Wilmington's anti-panhandling laws and no-contact orders.
