On July 31, 2024, United States District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall issued an order prohibiting the City of Los Angeles from enforcing its textile recycling ordinance against U’SAgain, LLC. This textile recycling company operates over fifty bins in Los Angeles. The court heard oral arguments on August 20, 2024. It extended the order pending a decision on a Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed and argued by the law firm of Dalton & Tomich, PLC, by attorneys Daniel Dalton and Joshua Davey.
On October 4, 2021, the City of Los Angeles enacted Ordinance #187248 and started enforcing it in the spring of 2024, despite objections from the City Planner. U’SAgain is challenging Ordinance #187248 because it violates the First Amendment by discriminating in both content and viewpoint. The Ordinance imposes a permitting scheme and strict placement restrictions on textile collection bins collecting items for reuse while completely exempting bins collecting items for recycling. Thus, U’SAgain argues that Ordinance #187248 functions as a viewpoint-based restriction on speech, violating the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause.
The court is expected to decide on the matter within 45 days. If you have any questions about the enforceability of donation bin ordinances that effectively ban the bins, please get in touch with Daniel Dalton to discuss your concerns.
