Case: Hal Taylor, Secretary, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency v. Jonathan Singleton, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, No. 25-368
Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2025-09-29
Status: Denied
Question Presented: Whether the First Amendment protects begging.
On March 2, 2026, the Supreme Court denied Alabama’s petition for certiorari in Taylor v. Singleton, declining to address whether the First Amendment extends constitutional protection to begging.
The case arose from a challenge to Alabama’s anti-begging statute. Respondent Jonathan Singleton, represented by Kelsi Brown Corkran and Micah West, brought a class action arguing the law violated the First Amendment. Alabama’s Secretary of Law Enforcement, represented by Edmund Gerard LaCour Jr., sought review, and amici including South Carolina, eighteen other states, and the Territory of Guam filed in support of the petition, signaling broad interest among state governments in preserving anti-begging enforcement authority.
The question presented was deceptively simple. The Supreme Court docket shows the case was distributed for conference twice before the denial issued. The denial leaves the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling intact. Whether the Court revisits this question in a future term will depend on whether a circuit conflict develops or a more compelling vehicle emerges.