Champion v. Commonwealth

Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to violating Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Ordinance 14-5, which prohibits all begging and soliciting from public streets or intersections within the urban-county area. On appeal, the circuit court affirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence, determining that Lexington’s Ordinance 14-5 is a content-neutral regulation of speech, thereby requiring a less exacting standard of scrutiny to remain constitutionally viable. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Ordinance 14-5 is a content-based regulation of expression that unconstitutionally abridges freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Remanded to the district court for dismissal of the charge against Defendant.