First off I need to address what a busker is. Many people are not aware of the word and what it means.. Buskers are, musicians, mimes, jugglers, living statues, balloon twisters, palm weavers, dancers, circus acts, face painters,  artists and a plethora of other types of street performers. Buskers make a living off tips for their performances as well as off related materials that they sell in the streets... It has been proven over and over again in the 9th district court of appeals and the supreme court that buskers and artists are protected by the 1st, and 14th amendments of the constitution, and that these protections are not diminished because the artist is compensated..

 A great example of this is Sparks Vs White, which was taken all the way to the supreme court and lists all the expressive activity that is protected. you may read that case here http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1300114.html  

The problem is that the city of San Diego has in its municipal code several laws that can be used against buskers and artists who are practicing their expressive activity in the public fora. Generally police will threaten or cite a busker, and then they have to spend several hours in court. Generally these cases are thrown out if the judge is knowledgeable of expressive activity and its constitutional protections.  This results in losses for the buskers and artists even if they win in court.  Any time an officer tickets a busker for soliciting, encroachment, interfering with a street fair or any other charges they come up with, they are violating said buskers constitutional rights and protections. 

This is a waste of city tax dollars, as well as could get the city in a lengthy expensive law suit... Many buskers have challenged cities and won substantial money all over the united states.. You can learn a lot about this by going to this wikipedia page, as it has several cases listed and their sources...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busking_(U.S._case_law)  Many of these cases can also be looked up on www.findlaw.com 

I know many buskers/ artists in the city that are constantly getting tickets or being harassed by people of authority that seems to have no knowledge of constitutional rights. I myself have been ticketed over and over,  and have had the majority of said tickets dropped before I ever saw a court room. Regardless though this takes up time and costs money.

The City Of San Diego Should change its Municipal code to reflect the constitutional protections granted by the first amendment.. If you agree please sign this petition...