Duluth may soon scrub a ban on panhandling from its city code.

The Duluth City Council is expected to vote Monday on a proposed ordinance that would repeal local restrictions on begging.

While the local begging ban remains on the books, it has fallen into disuse.

Kristi Stokes, president of the Greater Downtown Council, noted that although such activity continues to be of concern particularly when it's intrusive, recent court decisions have struck down similar restrictions in other communities, leading local police to cease cracking down on panhandlers as they had in the past.

A 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Reed v. the Town of Gilbert, Ariz., affirmed the right of an itinerant church and its congregation to use signs to publicize their wandering worship services. While the case may seem unrelated on its face, it subsequently has been used to support begging as a protected form of free speech under the First Amendment.

In August of 2015, Springfield, Ill., was the first city to have its ban on panhandling overturned on the basis of the decision. But federal courts went on to strike down similar restrictions in Portland, Maine; Lowell, Mass.; Tampa, Fla. and Grand Junction, Colo.

As the city of Duluth considers implementing a Homeless Bill of Rights, 2nd District City Councilor Joel Sipress said he thought it made sense to revisit the ban.

"While we were reviewing the city's policies toward people who are experiencing homelessness, it seemed an opportune time to look at this issue, precisely because the city has not been enforcing it because the courts have found it dubious," he said.

"This is a good opportunity to clarify for all parties what the city can and cannot enforce," said Sipress, who introduced a proposed ordinance change in conjunction with At Large Councilor Barb Russ.

However, the pair of councilors are not espousing an anything-goes policy, according to Sipress.

"It's important to stress that laws against harassment, laws against behaviors that threaten public safety would all remain enforced. And those are the kinds of laws the city and the police department have been using in recent years when people who are engaged in panhandling behave in ways that are either harassing or are dangerous," he said.

The Greater Downtown Council spearheaded the creation of a business improvement district in 2003, where members banded together to fund a Clean and Safe Team dedicated to keeping the city attractive and relatively free of problem behaviors, such as panhandling. Stokes said begging remains a concern but acknowledged an evolving legal environment.

Sipress praised the council and local law enforcement officers for navigating a shifting legal landscape and finding new ways to address unacceptable behavior when it occurs.

"The business community and the Clean and Safe Team and the police department have worked very well together to address those behaviors, but we have to respect that the courts have found that people have a constitutional right to ask for money," he said.

Sipress said one of the things he has appreciated about the work of advocates in Duluth's Homeless Bill of Rights Coalition is their stance regarding civility.

"Their intent is to make sure that people, regardless of their housing status, are able to live with dignity and security. But that we all agree that everyone involved in this effort agrees that there are standards of behavior that also need to be upheld," Sipress said.