An Ohio woman who asked for money by the side of the road had her conviction overturned on First Amendment grounds.

A police officer noticed Desaree Crawford talking to a driver at the end of an Interstate 275 off-ramp. She was carrying a sign that read: “Struggling. Homeless. Please help.”

The officer asked Crawford what she was doing.

“Making money,” she replied.

The officer charged her with a misdemeanor violation of a state law that prohibits standing “on a highway for the purpose of soliciting employment, business, or contributions from the occupants of any vehicle.”

During the trial, the officer testified that he would not have charged Crawford if her sign read “Vote for Trump” or “Go Reds.”

Crawford argued that her conviction was based on the content of her speech, but the state countered that the statute was intended to promote pedestrian safety.

The trial court ruled that the statute was constitutional and found Crawford guilty of a fourth-degree misdemeanor.

However, the Ohio Court of Appeals overturned her conviction in an opinion written by Presiding Judge Zayas, who noted that the stature separates solicitation from other kinds of speech.

“The statute allows a person to approach the occupant of a vehicle to collect signatures for petitions, collect charitable contributions with a permit, or distribute information,” the judge noted.

“Although the State argues that roadway solicitation threatens the safety of pedestrians and vehicles, it provided no evidence to support this contention,” Zayas wrote.