DAY LABOR LAW LIKELY TO REMAIN INTACT ATTORNEY FOR AGOURA HILLS DOWNPLAYS COURT CHALLENGE.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

AGOURA HILLS - The city attorney said Tuesday that a trial judge's doubts about a Los Angeles County ordinance banning day laborers from soliciting passing motorists were not likely to alter the Agoura Hills policy.

City Attorney Craig Steele said the city's 1991 ordinance prohibiting such activity has been upheld by an appellate court and has been duplicated by other municipalities because of its ability to withstand legal battles.

``I don't know even if a decision from this trial judge would have an impact on Agoura Hills at all,'' Steele said. ``There is a reported decision of the California Court of Appeal specifically upholding the Agoura Hills ordinance against the same constitutional arguments. In fact, it involved some of the same parties, which is why people copy Agoura Hills' ordinance. It was the first one adopted and specifically upheld in a court challenge.''

A federal judge Monday cast doubt over a county ordinance that bans day laborers from soliciting passing motorists for work in unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County.

U.S. District Judge George H. King told a county lawyer that the 1994 ordinance's language is vague and overly broad. He also expressed concern that the county law has a chilling effect on the workers' First Amendment rights.

The 1994 law makes it a misdemeanor for anyone to solicit employment, business or money from drivers in moving vehicles.

The county ordinance defines soliciting as ``any action which announces availability,'' which the judge said could mean anything.

``This statute is virtually unique in the sheer breadth of its definition,'' the judge said.

The Agoura Hills ordinance prohibits solicitation of employment, business or contribution of money from any persons traveling in a vehicle on a public street other than in designated solicitation spots.

The judge's remarks were made during his questioning of Richard Kemalyan, an attorney defending the county Board of Supervisors against a civil rights lawsuit by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and Sindicato de Trabajadores por Dia. Both groups are represented by attorneys with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The judge in October asked the county to prove the ordinance was narrowly written to serve a specific government interest, such as traffic congestion.

King on Monday outlined various scenarios of day laborers on the sidewalk, wondering how they would be treated if they were walking with signs and without signs, facing the street or facing pedestrians.

The county's attorney said the law allowed day laborers to solicit work from pedestrians on the sidewalk and from drivers who pulled over and parked.

The judge challenged that answer, noting that a police officer would have to determine if a sign was directed at a pedestrian or a motorist.

The judge also said the county had failed to show that day laborers had alternatives to standing on sidewalks.

King declined to issue a judgment in the case and indicated he would issue a written opinion. A decision could have an impact throughout the federal court's seven-county jurisdiction.

There are an estimated 20,000 day laborers who seek jobs on the streets of Los Angeles County.

Ordinances restricting street solicitations by day laborers exist in 24 cities, said Victor Navarro, a member of the coalition suing the county.

The ordinance being challenged was sponsored in response to complaints from residents and business owners near a home supply store in the Ladera Heights section of West Los Angeles. The complaints, which included congested traffic, drug dealing and public urination, subsided after law enforcement met with the rights coalition, officials said.