"Bum's Bill of Rights"

Get a load of this, from Opinion Journal's Best of the Web Today: "A homeless man who was arrested after asking a policeman for a dollar got a judge to throw out the case by arguing that begging is a form of free speech," the Associated Press reports from New Rochelle, N.Y. James Taranto then comments, "But wait. That gives us an idea of how to solve the panhandling problem. Why not make it a misdemeanor to give money to a panhandler? Surely this violates no one's free speech; it merely prevents a commercial transaction that hinders the quality of life. The law would likely spur less defiance than laws against panhandling itself, since citizens who have money tend to respect the law and don't gain anything by giving vagrants money anyway. And who wouldn't be happy to brush aside an aggressive beggar by saying, 'Sorry, it's illegal.'"