ITEM TITLE:
Consider an ordinance pertaining to vehicles and traffic, amending Section 23-19-1909, Article 23-19, Chapter 23, Lawton City Code, 2015; revising language to adhere to current judicial rulings regarding standing, siting, or staying on any street, highway, or median, providing for severability, and declaring an effective date
INITIATOR: Timothy Wilson, Acting City Attorney
STAFF INFORMATION SOURCE: Alan D. Rosenbaum Assistant City Attorney (City Prosecutor)
BACKGROUND: In McGraw v. City of Oklahoma City, decided August 31, 2020, on appeal from the United States District Court, Western District of Oklahoma, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that the Oklahoma City Ordinance which restricted and prohibited individuals from standing, sitting or remaining for most purposes on any portion of a median either less than thirty (30) feet wide or located less than two hundred (200) feet from an intersection was an unconstitutional . The Court found that the Ordinance abridged citizens’ rights to freedom of speech and peaceable assembly in violation of the First Amendment to the United States’ Constitution. Recently, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari thereby declining to hear the appeal of this decision.
EXHIBIT: Proposed Ordinance 23-____
KEY ISSUES: N/A
FUNDING SOURCE: N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION: Adopt Ordinance 23-____, waive the reading of the ordinance and read the title only.