Aggressive solicitation.

New Orleans City Code § 54-419

in effect

Sec. 54-419. - Aggressive solicitation. (a) Policy. As an aid in the interpretation and enforcement of this section the city council finds that: (1) Aggressive solicitation is disturbing and disruptive to residents and businesses and contributes to the loss of access to and enjoyment of public places and to a sense of fear, intimidation and disorder. (2) Aggressive solicitation may include approaching or following pedestrians, repetitive soliciting despite refusals, the use of abusive or profane language to cause fear and intimidation, unwanted physical contact, or the intentional blocking of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. (3) The presence of individuals who solicit money from persons in places that are confined, difficult to avoid, or where a person might find it necessary to wait, is especially troublesome because of the enhanced fear of crime. (4) This section is intended to protect citizens from the disruption, fear and intimidation accompanying certain kinds of solicitation, and not to limit constitutionally protected activity. (b) Definitions. (1) Solicitation, as used in this section, means any plea made in person where: a. A person by vocal appeal requests an immediate donation of money or other item from another person; or b. A person verbally offers or actively provides an item or service of little or no value to another in exchange for a donation, under circumstances where a reasonable person would understand that the transaction is in substance a donation. However, solicitation shall not include the act of passively standing, sitting, or engaging in a performance of art with a sign or other indication that a donation is being sought, without any vocal request other than in response to an inquiry by another person. (2) Convenience store, as used in this section, means a retail establishment offering for sale prepackaged food products, household items, and other goods commonly associated with them, with a gross floor area of less than 7,500 square feet. (3) Obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic means to walk, stand, sit, lie, or place an object in such a manner as to block passage by another person or a vehicle, or to require another person or a driver of a vehicle to take unreasonable evasive action to avoid physical contact. (4) Unreasonable evasive action means causing a vehicle to depart from the lane of traffic in which it is traveling to change lanes, to straddle lanes, or to enter onto a neutral ground to obtain passage; it also means causing a pedestrian to leave the sidewalk on which he is traveling or to make contact with a wall or fence bordering the sidewalk, or, at such times as the New Orleans Police Department shall have erected barricades to prohibit vehicular traffic from Bourbon Street or Royal Street, to cause a pedestrian to take unreasonable evasive action in the street to avoid physical contact. (5) Public entertainment venue means a place that is open to the public (whether or not upon payment of a fee for admission and whether or not the management reserves the right to exclude individual members of the public) for entertainment, but does not include a shop. The term also includes Bourbon Street and Royal Street between the hours of sunset and sunrise. (6) Shop means premises used for the sale or displaying or offering for sale of goods or food to a member of the public, whether on a wholesale or retail basis, and includes a warehouse (other than where the premises is temporarily used as a public entertainment venue). (c) Prohibitions. (1) It shall be unlawful in a public place to engage in an act of solicitation when the person being solicited is present at any of the following locations: a. In a restroom. b. At a bus stop or public transportation shelter. c. At or within 20 feet in any direction from an intersection of two streets or a marked crosswalk. d. In any public transportation vehicle or public transportation facility. e. In a vehicle which is parked or stopped on a public street or alley. f. In a sidewalk cafe. g. In a line waiting to be admitted to a commercial or government establishment. h. Within 20 feet in any direction from an automatic teller machine or entrance to a bank, other financial institution, or check-cashing business. i. On any parkland, or in any park, playground, or public entertainment venue, including within 20 feet of entryways or exits thereto. j. At or within ten feet in any direction of the property on which is located a gasoline filling station as defined in Section 150-963 of the Code of the City of New Orleans. k. At or within ten feet in any direction of the property on which is located a liquor store, including any establishment with a class B permit (off-sale license) under Alcoholic Beverages, Chapter 10 of the Code of the City of New Orleans, and including any establishment with an on-sale license. l. At or within ten feet in any direction of the property on which a convenience store is located. (2) It shall be unlawful in a public place to engage in an act of solicitation in a manner that incorporates any of the following methods: a. Intentionally touching or causing harmful or offensive physical contact with the solicited person without that person's consent. b. Intentionally blocking the path of the solicited person, or the entrance to any building or vehicle. c. Following behind, ahead or alongside a person who walks away from the solicitor after being solicited, with the intent to intimidate or continue solicitation. d. Using obscene, profane, or abusive language or gestures toward the solicited person. e. Approaching the solicited person in a manner that: 1. Is intended to or is likely to cause a reasonable person to fear imminent bodily harm or the commission of a criminal act upon property in the person's possession; or 2. Is intended to or is likely to intimidate a reasonable person into responding affirmatively to the solicitation. f. Solicitation while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. g. Soliciting in a group of two or more persons. (3) It shall be unlawful in a public place to engage in an act of solicitation on any day after sunset or before sunrise. (4) No person, in any public place, shall use obscene language, or grab, or follow another for the sole purpose of harassment, or walk, stand, sit, lie, or place an object in such a manner as to block passage by another person or a vehicle, or to require another person or a driver of a vehicle to take evasive action to avoid physical contact. A person shall be guilty of obstructive interference if, in a public place, he intentionally obstructs pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Acts authorized by permit issued pursuant to the Parade Ordinances, Article XVI of Chapter 154 of the Code of the City of New Orleans shall not constitute interference with pedestrian or vehicular traffic. (d) Penalties. Each act prohibited by this section shall constitute a separate violation of this section. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than $500.00 and/or imprisonment for not more than six months. In the event that a person convicted of an offense under this section is employed by an organization responsible for the offender's actions constituting a violation of this ordinance then that organization shall be held similarly in violation of this section and similar penalties shall be levied upon the organization. (e) Applicability. Section 54-419 shall only be applicable within the Vieux Carré as defined in Section 166-2 of the Code of the City of New Orleans. (f) Severance. If any section, sentence, clause, or phrase of this law is held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, it shall in no way affect the validity of any remaining portions of this law. (M.C.S., Ord. No. 24636, § 1, 10-20-11; M.C.S., Ord. No. 25408, § 1, 7-25-13)

Source: City of New Orleans, Code of Ordinances and Home Rule Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/la/new_orleans/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICO_CH54CRCO_ARTVIOFAFPUGE_DIV4OFAGGEPEOR_S54-419AGSOFetched: 10/28/2026