1. Define ordinance.

2. Why did the Durango, Colorado City Council pass the May 15 ordinance?

3. What is the purpose of the ordinance passed unanimously at the May 15 Durango City Council meeting?

4. a) What does the ordinance prohibit?
b) What is the penalty for violating the ordinance?

5. a) Define exemption.
b) Who/when are people exempt from the ordinance?

6. Consider the following:

• Did you know until recently, most towns and cities had vagrancy laws? In legal terminology, vagrancy refers to the offense of persons who are without visible means of support or domicile while able to work.
• There were also prohibitions on loitering, which is the act of remaining in a particular public place for a protracted time without any apparent purpose.

Do you think people should be permitted to sit and/or lie on the sidewalk all day? (If you think they should be allowed to do so, would it make a difference if there were just a few as opposed to tens or hundreds?) Do you think towns/cities should be able to have laws prohibiting vagrancy or loitering? Explain your answer.

7. The US Supreme Court has ruled that begging is a protected form of speech and cities cannot ban panhandling outright. What do you think? Ask a parent the same question.

CHALLENGE QUESTIONS:

• Do a Google search and try to find videos or photos of people lying on sidewalks in downtown Durango - something that has been an ongoing problem for at least 3 years. What do you think of the results?
• Colorado legalized the use of recreational marijuana in 2014. When one news report suggested it has caused the rise in homeless panhandlers in Durango, residents / business owners in an article in the Durango Herald disputed the assertion. What do you think? Was the first report inaccurate? Were business owners afraid to be known as being opposed to homeless people?