Joe Seyton: Phoenix Is Policing Super Bowl Speech, but Not Violent Crime

It’s a tale of two cities in downtown Phoenix, set to play host to the national media and all the associated fanfare in the lead-up to Super Bowl LVII.

Or rather, it’s a tale of where one city government’s priorities lie, brought to light by two lawsuits challenging the city’s willingness to trample on its residents’ rights. Government officials can’t be bothered to police violent crime in one of the nation’s largest homeless encampments. But they have more than enough time and resources to police their own citizens’ free speech ahead of the Super Bowl.

A huge area of downtown Phoenix is known as “The Zone,” The crisis is affecting more than 1,000 homeless people who have set up tents. Spiraling Lawlessness, violence, death, and other forms of chaos have made it impossible to control. regular occurrences. And that’s to say nothing of the used condoms, needles, and human waste littering the streets. How bad is this? Last November, the burnt remains of a 20- to 24-week-old fetus were discovered. Find it In the street. Less than three weeks later, first responders put out another fire—only to Discover Adult remains.

Local property and business owners who are tired of seeing their livelihoods destroyed are now suing the city to stop it from becoming a nuisance. (The Goldwater Institute where I work has a similar complaint. Filed a brief in support of these citizens’ rights.) Officials spent years shunting homeless people into The Zone, and now they’re refusing to effectively patrol the area, reportedly instructing police officers to take no action to enforce the law. While the city has received almost $100 million in federal COVID funding since 2021 to address its homelessness crisis, it had not spent any of that money. Below 10 percent This windfall was available as of last year. 

The city government is failing The Zone’s law-abiding citizens as well as the homeless who live on the streets amid unpoliced violence. And while city leaders are unwilling to protect the public’s health and safety, those same leaders were champing at the bit to cater to the whims of the National Football League—even if it meant censoring their own citizens in the weeks surrounding the Super Bowl. 

The city stated that no residents or businesses were allowed to live in the “clean zone,” which encompasses most of downtown Phoenix, could put up any temporary signs—including flags, banners, posters, flyers or even window paintings—without the approval of the city, the NFL, and the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. This mandate was intended to make sure that only the NFL and its sponsors could advertise in the Super Bowl. “clean zone.” It was a ban on communication with the public that affected hundreds of businesses as well as thousands of residents. 

After the Goldwater Institute Sued the city The government has taken action against these unconstitutional restrictions Amended The “clean zone” ordinance to eliminate the NFL and the Host Committee as part of the signage decision-making process. (This week, a court ruled The restrictions were not constitutional. But it’s all too clear what is and is not important to city leaders. There are not many flashy media events at The Zone. There are no opportunities to Credit For Exaggerated Projections of economic impact. There is no national spotlight. 

The city won’t enforce its laws to reduce the violence in The Zone, but it will Mobilize 20 cities departments to spend countless hours—all on the taxpayers’ dime—preparing for the million or so visitors expected to attend Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix. (The big game is actually being played in Glendale.

The city won’t protect business owners from the ruin caused by its own negligence in the Zone, but it will gladly censor its own citizens to protect the NFL and its sponsors from competing advertisers. 

Hosting Super Bowl festivities is an exciting opportunity for Phoenix—but the whims of the city and the NFL shouldn’t come at the cost of citizens’ constitutional rights. Nor should innocent residents and business owners in The Zone forfeit their rights because the city doesn’t want to fulfill its duty and enforce the law. 

It’s time for the Phoenix government to get its priorities in order—that’s what all its citizens deserve.

Joe Setyon The Goldwater Institute’s Communications Manager is he.