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"Had that been the case in Gastonia, the confrontation with Rohrer—who struggles with service-related post-traumatic stress disorder—over his alleged panhandling would likely never have happened. And his dog, in that case, might still be alive."

"Whether or not Gastonia's ordinances against panhandling are themselves unconstitutional is an open question. Similar laws have failed to withstand scrutiny when they are found to be content-based. A prohibition against asking for donations is a prohibition against a very particular type of speech, making it difficult to square with the First Amendment. "

"Nor is the city of Gastonia entitled to protection under the Monell doctrine, the court said, which shields municipalities from such suits unless a plaintiff can sufficiently allege that the misconduct was a result of an official government policy, custom, practice, or lack of training. According to Rohrer's complaint, the city of Gastonia "aggressively arrests and seeks prolonged detention" for homeless people over "trivial or fabricated offenses." (Though qualified immunity has commanded most of the attention in the national dialogue around such issues, Monell in many ways can be even more difficult to overcome.)"