The city will cease enforcement of an ordinance barring panhandling under the terms of a settlement reached in federal court last week.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Rhode Island volunteer attorney Marc Gursky, representing plaintiff Michael Monteiro, had filed suit against the city, Mayor Allan Fung, Treasurer David Capuano, and Police Chief Col. Michael Winquist in December 2015, challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance.

In a consent judgment, the U.S. District Court found that the ordinance violated First Amendment rights. The city was ordered to stop enforcement of the measure, to pay the plaintiff $1,500 as “compensatory damages for pain and suffering associated with the deprivation of constitutional rights,” and to pay $4,575 in legal costs and $400 in court fees.

The case stemmed from the June 2015 issuance by Cranston police of a court summons to Monteiro, who the ACLU said “occasionally stood on a median on Plainfield Pike holding a sign that reads: ‘disabled, need help, God bless.’” Monteiro is disabled and supplements his disability income with the roadside donations.

According to the ACLU, police told Monteiro to leave the area and indicated he would be arrested if he returned to seek donations. The charge was dismissed in Municipal Court, but the judge is said to have also told Monteiro to stay away from the area in which he had been soliciting.

The ACLU in a statement called the settlement a “victory against the criminalization of poverty.” The statement indicates Gursky “argued that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague, infringed on free speech rights, and was enforced selectively by targeting ‘panhandlers’ trying to make ends meet while allowing other individuals and groups to solicit motorists while fundraising for various causes.”

“All I am doing is exercising my right to express myself, and letting people know of my life and my needs,” Monteiro said during a December press conference announcing the suit. “I should have that right. I’m not harming anybody. If a person can display a sign saying ‘Vote for Hillary’ and solicit votes, why can’t I display my sign?”

“I’m pleased that Cranston has acknowledged that its panhandling ordinance is unconstitutional and unenforceable,” Gursky said through the ACLU’s statement.

Robert Coupe, Cranston’s director of administration, issued the following statement on Tuesday:

“Last year, the City of Cranston enacted a public safety ordinance to protect both motorists and pedestrians from dangerous situations created when pedestrians approach vehicles at busy intersections. Unfortunately, this ordinance was mischaracterized as an ordinance to prohibit panhandling and we have seen courts overturn such ordinances as a restriction on free speech. We looked at decisions in other cases and considered the credible risk that we could be forced to pay substantial fees and expenses. Instead [we] chose to resolve this lawsuit at very little cost to the city, while preserving our opportunity to amend or rewrite the ordinance in a way that would address free speech objections.”

The Cranston settlement comes after Providence ceased enforcement of its own panhandling ordinance in response to the ACLU’s warning of a suit. At the December press conference, ACLU officials had indicated plans to pursue legal action against similar laws in other communities.