SEAL BEACH : City Won’t Change Solicitation Hours
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A 1916 California Supreme Court decision establishing “reasonable hours of repose” is reason enough to allow door-to-door solicitors an extra two hours at night, according to the Seal Beach city attorney.
Council members reluctantly extended solicitation hours to 10 p.m. last month but also directed the city attorney to look for a legal loophole that would allow them to turn back the clock. City Atty. Quinn Barrow told council members Monday night there are no loopholes that would remove the risk of lawsuit.
A fund-raising group had complained that the city’s 8 p.m. deadline for door-to-door solicitation was out of step with state law. In 1916, the state Supreme Court ruled that 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. could be considered “reasonable hours of repose,” establishing the hours that door-to-door solicitation could be prohibited.
Barrow said the court ruling still is valid, though earlier deadlines remain in some cities because they have not been contested. In Seal Beach, the complaint was not made by the Sierra Club as the city initially reported, but by representatives of Public Interest Research, according to Barrow.
The council plans no action to shorten the extended hours.
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