Oakland Law On Donation Bins Upheld By Court

OAKLAND, CA — An Oakland law that regulates and licenses unattended donation bins to collect items such as clothing was left in force by a federal appeals court in San Francisco today.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court judge's decision to refuse to grant a preliminary injunction blocking the law.

The injunction was sought by a nonprofit group, Recycle for Change, which claimed the 2015 law burdened its constitutional free-speech right to solicit donations of used clothing for charitable purposes.

But the appeals court said the law didn't violate free speech because it wasn't based on the content of whatever messages the collection bins might express. Instead, the law applies equally to business and nonprofit bin
operators and serves an unrelated governmental purpose of reducing illegal dumping, graffiti, blight and traffic impediments, the court said.

"The ordinance regulates the unattended collection of personal items for distribution, reuse, and recycling, without regard to the charitable or business purpose for doing so," Judge Ronald Gould wrote. "That conduct is neither expressive nor communicative," he said.

The court noted that it was not deciding at this point whether the collection boxes are a form of speech, but said that even if they qualify as speech, Recycle for Change would be unlikely to win its First Amendment
free-speech claim in a full trial.

Oakland enacted the law on Oct. 20, 2015, and Recycle for Change sued the city the following Dec. 5. The organization appealed after U.S. District Judge William Orrick of San Francisco declined to grant a
preliminary injunction blocking the law on Jan. 28, 2016.

The Richmond-based recycling group collects and sells the items it collects to second-hand clothing dealers and graders in the United States and abroad, according to its website. It says it supports sustainable development work domestically and overseas.

The organization's green donation bins are 6 feet 8 inches high and 3 feet wide and are placed on private property with the owner's permission.

The Oakland law requires bin operators to obtain a permit, with a $535 application fee and an annual renewal fee of $246. Bins may not be placed within 1,000 feet of other donation bins and operators must conduct
periodic maintenance and obtain $1 million in liability insurance.

Recycle for Change also sued the city of Hayward in 2015 to challenge a similar law, but that case was put on hold by Orrick until the completion of appeals in the Oakland case.

— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock

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