Redondo Beach day laborer ordinance is ruled unconstitutional

A Redondo Beach effort to crack down on day laborers is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The city's anti-solicitation ordinance, which has been in place for more than two decades, drew attention in 2004 after undercover police officers posing as potential employers arrested nearly 60 day laborers in a period of about four weeks. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Comite de Jornaleros de Redondo Beach sued the city soon after those arrests.

The ordinance, which city officials said was needed to regulate traffic safety at two major intersections, barred standing on a street or highway and soliciting “employment, business or contributions from an occupant of any motor vehicle.”