Right to be beggar-free

I just read that panhandlers are suing the city for the right to beg. They claim that passing laws against panhandling is infringing on their constitutional right of free speech.

Are these panhandlers serious?

What about my constitutional right to wait for the traffic light to turn green without some creepy-looking stranger walking right up to my car window holding a sign begging for money? And the panhandler suing the city has been begging on an off-ramp off Georgetown Street for the last nine years. Because many people have seen motorists give him money, the street is crawling with panhandlers now.

Of course he was given a public defender being paid with our tax dollars, so he’s getting even more of the public’s money. If it is ruled that panhandlers have a constitutional right to beg, Lexington will have a panhandler at every traffic light, street corner, on- and off-ramp, and public parking lot.

Even more panhandlers will come from miles around, and we will not be able to peacefully wait for a traffic light to change without some stranger staring us down until the light changes. Some traffic lights take forever to change.

This story was originally published October 13, 2016 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Right to be beggar-free."