The council’s decision followed a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s case of Speet v. Schuette making begging legal, East Lansing City Attorney Tom Yeadon said.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, East Lansing is the first city to repeal the ordinance.

The city charter has a provision that prevents ordinances from being a part of the code that are not in compliance with the state.

ACLU representatives recently sent Yeadon and more than 80 other city attorneys throughout the state a letter asking them to repeal the anti-panhandling ordinance. The East Lansing City Council had repealed the ordinance two weeks before receiving the letter.

In the letter, the ACLU said East Lansing’s ordinance, “like the state law struck down in Speet, prohibits begging in a public place and is therefore unconstitutional on its face.”

Yeadon said repealing the ordinance merely was city protocol.

“When a court decision comes down, you adjust the ordinances accordingly,” he said.

ACLU Legal Fellow Sofia Rahman said the organization did not know East Lansing had already repealed the ordinance when the letter was sent.

“We hadn’t heard about it because we used Municode to find anti-begging laws in cities that listed their ordinances,” she said. “When we found out that two weeks ago they had repealed the ordinance, we were very happy about it.”

“What we’re hoping for is that other cities follow East Lansing’s example,” she said. “We have heard that many cities are starting the process of repealing those ordinances.”

East Lansing Mayor Diane Goddeeris said she’s heard concern from some community members about the ordinance being repealed.

“Neighbors have concerns about people showing up at their door, but freedom of speech is an important right,” she said.

Goddeeris said it is too early to tell if the ordinance will have negative effects.

“I don’t know if we’ve seen anything different in the time we’ve had it,” she said. “It’s only been three weeks.”

Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett said the ordinance hasn’t been heavily enforced in a long time.

“I think people are surprised it was on the books in the first place,” he said.