Robert Fernandez likes to carry a cardboard sign along busy roadways.
He has done so at the busy intersection of Interstate 270 and Manchester Road, near West County Mall. He does so in St. Charles, near a highway off-ramp.
His sign is simple.
“Please, anything helps,†it reads. “God bless.â€
Fernandez is not homeless, though he once was. This is how he chooses to make a living. He stands outside in the searing sun of summer and asks strangers for money. To retrieve that money, he often has to step onto the roadway from his perch on a median or the side of the road.
This is where the long arm of the law comes in.
When Fernandez was homeless, his chosen highway off-ramp was in unincorporated south ºüÀêÊÓƵ County. But the county police ticketed him more than 30 times, charging him under vagrancy and anti-soliciting laws. Fernandez, with the help of attorneys Bevis Schock and Hugh Eastwood, took the county to court. U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., awarded Fernandez $150,000 and attorneys fees in 2021. Limbaugh declared the county’s laws an unconstitutional infringement on the First Amendment.
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Fernandez bought a home in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County with his proceeds. But he figured he was good at earning money on the side of the road, so he kept doing it.
Schock doesn’t see anything wrong with that.
“That’s how Mr. Fernandez gets his money,†Schock says. “There are a lot of people in the world who do not punch a time clock.â€
The city of Des Peres disagrees. So does the city of St. Charles. After the county decision, both cities, and many others in the region, altered ordinances that banned standing on the side of the road and asking for money if a person has to enter the roadway. It’s a health and safety issue, the cities say. In the past couple of years, Des Peres and St. Charles have cited Fernandez multiple times with ordinance violations.
“Despite the existence of numerous other, safer, and permissible locations for this conduct elsewhere in the City — including a sidewalk just down the road — Defendant selected a location that is not designed to safely accommodate pedestrians of any kind,†attorney Tim Engelmeyer wrote in court documents in one of the cases.
Engelmeyer is representing Des Peres.
“There are no cross walks, no marked safe walking areas, no pedestrian accommodations, no sidewalk in the intersection itself, and no posted notices to any driver or vehicle that a pedestrian might be standing in the road,†he wrote. “For his own protection, and the protection of the thousands of drivers and vehicles using this intersection every day, Defendant received citations from the City for such conduct.â€
In May, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Associate Circuit Court Judge Lorne Baker denied Schock’s motion to dismiss the Des Peres citations against Fernandez. That means the case is headed to trial.
Schock, who has a strong libertarian bent highlighted by the “Don’t Tread on Me†flag that hangs above his desk, believes the municipal laws re-written after the county ruling still have a fatal flaw. Their intent, he argues, is to target people who panhandle for a living. He hopes a jury will see things his way.
“The safety argument is a pretext,†Schock says. “These people are deeply independent in their lifestyle. I think that’s great. Mr. Fernandez doesn’t have to live the structured lifestyle that I do.â€
If the new laws in various municipalities stand, that means no more firefighters holding out boots to passersby to raise money, and no more fundraisers. The rules applied to Fernandez have to apply to everybody, with no exceptions.
That’s what happened in Des Peres, Engelmeyer says. Last fall, for instance, the Old Newsboys nonprofit was told its practice of standing on curbs to hand out newspapers and collect donations was no longer allowed in the city.
“There’s really no hidden agenda here,†Engelmeyer says. “This is a practical application of a health and safety ordinance.â€
But it’s an ordinance, Schock argues, that can’t be enforced without taking away his client’s First Amendment rights.
“He is a free American,†Schock says. “Just leave him alone.â€