Judge suspends Florida city's homeless feeding ban

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Judge suspends Florida city's homeless feeding ban
| December 2, 2014 | Updated: December 2, 2014 12:38pm

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A judge has suspended enforcement of a South Florida city's law that restricts the public feeding of homeless people for 30 days and ordered mediation on the issue.

The ordinance is aimed at keeping people from feeding the homeless in parks and other public places in Fort Lauderdale. Nationwide, people have objected to the ordinance and on Monday, hackers with the Anonymous group shut down the city Internet sites temporarily in response.

The decision Tuesday by Broward Circuit Judge Thomas Lynch came in a challenge to the ordinance by 90-year-old homeless advocate Arnold Abbott, who has been arrested after defying it repeatedly. Lynch wants the dispute resolved through mediation or trial by the end of the year.

City attorneys indicated they may appeal Lynch's ruling. More lawsuits are challenging whether the ordinance is constitutional.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Judge-suspends-Florida-city-s-homeless-feeding-ban-5929940.php

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(Short article, no more at link.)

[msanthrope]

1. Good. nt

[TygrBright]

2. I would be SO embarrassed if I lived in Fort Lauderdale.... n/t

[99th_Monkey]

3. Awesome K&R nt

[SpankMe]

4. Riddle me this:

Why can't this ordinance be struck down on first amendment grounds? I'm exercising my right to speak through the donation of food to the homeless and poor. It's an act of advocacy for the homeless and my statement of support for them.

Farfetched? It's no more farfetched than saying the donation of money for election related causes is free speech (read: Citizens United). And that has already been adjudicated by the Supreme Court.

[Wildewolfe]

5. Or freedom of religion for that matter

One of the tenets of true Christianity (not to mention the same thing in other faiths) is to feed the needy. One religious group could sink this stinker of a law with no problem I would think.

[reddread]

8. it probably can or would be, certainly the political speech protected under Citizens United..

would be a fair comparison, or contrast if these municipal nuisance ordinances received
judicial protection from above.
they know better, they just dont have to care.
what are you going to do about it?
who is gonna give them a reason not to push people around with unconstitutional abuse?
nobody.

[ReRe]

6. The Judge should...

... ban the city council & their lawyers, and call for a new election immediately.

[OverBurn]

7. I'd be proud to be arrested for feeding the homeless!

This is a horseshit law that people should be in line to break. They can't arrest everyone.

[reddread]

9. just dont block traffic or behave unpleasantly.

right?
these horseshit abuses are related to those issues that put people in the streets blocking traffic.
people seeking real change, right now, for issues of life and death, health and safety, food and water,
peace and justice, can not just stand in the shadows waving a sign. Get IN THE FACE of politicians and on their
backs at every turn. We're in charge, they just need to be told that, firmly.

[calimary]

10. ...the least of these...

How do these hard-hearted assholes face themselves every morning? How do they look in the mirror every morning and not recoil in shame?

[ManiacJoe]

11. All because the folks doing the feeding do not want to follow the law

by providing the eaters with a port-a-potty.

[reddread]

12. in a park?

[ManiacJoe]

13. If the park does not have any, yes.

[reddread]

14. and if it does?

[ManiacJoe]

15. Then they are in compliance with the law, right?

[reddread]

16. until the next ordinance.

[jtuck004]

17. Too bad there isn't a law against letting ass clowns leave people hungry. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

18. Asshats think up ALL KINDS OF REGS to starve, remove & oppress people...

...who are homeless, including (but not limited to) food regs, health regs, 'loitering' regs, 'sitting' regs, 'lying down' regs, panhandling regs, fees/permits/taxes regs of all kinds; and more.

Having soup & sandwich in a park does NOT require a toilet, though most parks have them for the convenience of the publc. But why volunteers giving food away should be required to provide a port-a-potty is not really the question at all. That, and most other requirements of free food projects, are EXCUSES to shut down the project, in order to remove people who are homeless from public view by people who have homes and are making it in this vicious economic/political system.

[ManiacJoe]

19. Very true in some cases.

[Aristus]

20. Thank God.

Maybe now we human beings can get back to doing what we're supposed to be doing: helping each other.

[lpbk2713]

21. F U Chamber of Commerce

A temporary win for the hungry people.

[Trillo]

22. This is one of our oldest customs

likely from way back before civilization. The right to give food to another. "The right"? It shouldn't even be considered a "right", it's a necessity. An inalienable right.

We hold these truths self evident, that all (wo)men are created equal, and are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

Without "food", "life" is not possible for humans.

[yellowcanine]

23. So does the ban apply to feeding stray cats also?

Or is it just people we have to let go hungry?