St. Petersburg Times parent company sues St. Pete over street solicitation ban

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Times Publishing Company, the corporate parent to the St. Petersburg Times, hasn't taken well to St. Petersburg's new ban on street solicitation, and now they're suing the city .

The lawsuit was filed in a Tampa federal court on Monday, stating that the ordinance impedes on the publication's constitutional right to freedom of speech.

"The right of access to public streets and sidewalks to distribute the news is essential to the exercise of the press's First Amendment freedoms," the suit states. "The ordinance prevents the Times from distributing its newspapers in traditional public (areas), thereby violating its freedom of the press."

The St. Petersburg City Council unanimously voted in favor of banning street solicitation to place tighter restrictions on those who beg for money. However, no distinctions were made between panhandling, fundraising or street vending. Times legal counsel George Rahdert said the ordinance is targeted at the homeless and panhandlers, but in order to appear neutral, it bans 'street vending'.