7th Cir. Upholds Springfield's Panhandling Ordinance, Using A Historic Twist

It can't have happened often (if at all) that a retired Justice would decide a new case based on his reading of an opinion in which he dissented.

Yet that is precisely what happened in Thayer v. Worcester, 755 F.3d 60 (1st Cir. 2014) (Souter, J.), a First Circuit decision from earlier this year in which the now retired Justice Souter, writing for that court, upheld Worcester's panhandling law using Justice Kennedy's analysis from International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee, 505 U.S. 672 (1992). Lee was the latest decision (in a series of three) from the Supreme Court dealing with anti-panhandling laws and one in which Justice Souter had dissented.

The Seventh...