The case of Young v. New York Transit Authority (903 F.2d 146 [2nd Cir. 1990]) was brought on behalf of William B. Young Jr., and Joseph Walley, among others, by an organization representing homeless people against the New York Transit Authority and a variety of other New York transportation entities. This was a class action challenging a transit authority regulation prohibiting begging and panhandling in the subway system in New York City. Enforcement of the regulation had been enjoined by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and this decision was appealed. The Circuit Judge for the Court of Appeals, Judge Altimari, held that the regulation did not violate the First Amendment as had been charged and reversed and vacated the previous ruling.
In 1989, the Legal Action Center for the Homeless (LACH) filed suit in the district court on behalf of itself and the two homeless men named above as representative plaintiffs for a class of homeless and needy persons engaged in panhandling in the New York subway system. the original complaint stated that the prohibition against begging and panhandling in the subway violated the rights of free speech, due process, and equal protection of the law. The complaint claimed that enforcement of the regulation violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, as well as an article of the New York State Constitution. The plaintiffs sought injunctive relief while the case was pending and so asked that the court enjoin the defendants from enforcing the regulation and also to force the defendants to distribute information throughout the subway system that begging and panhandling were lawful activities.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Transit Authority started a rule-making process in January 1989. There was then an existing rule that stated that no one could "solicit alms, subscription or contribution for any purpose" on the subway. ...