Arrest made at park (for feeding homeless)

[NVMojo]

This is a followup breaking story from Las Vegas to this story relating to LV city banning the feeding of the homeless in city parks. A protest has been filed by the ACLU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2401436

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July 31, 2006

Las Vegas city marshals cited a radio station employee for feeding the homeless in a public park this morning, marking the first enforcement since a controversial ordinance went into effect. The citation was one of a number of legal actions at Frank Wright Plaza.

Four apparently homeless people were cited for being in the park before it opened; another was arrested for the same infraction. A cameraman and a reporter for KLAS-TV Channel 8 were also given citations, after they refused to move their news van from inside the park before it opened, according to a city spokesman. The radio station employee of KKLZ, 96.3 FM, was also cited for driving the wrong way on a one-way street near the park and for driving without a driver's license, officials said.

more...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/index.html

more details here:

Las Vegas marshals ticket 7, arrest 3 amid homeless protests

snip...

Officials, led by Mayor Oscar Goodman, say they want a long-term solution to homelessness rather than stopgap measures in a city with limited resources for those living on the streets.

"Rather than giving someone a sandwich once a day, the city supports efforts to end the cycle of homelessness and address the issues that keep these individuals on the streets," the mayor's office said in a statement Monday. It calls for the homeless to seek aid at social service agencies.

Activists and civil libertarians called the crackdown unfair and unconstitutional.

"They are treating people in public spaces in a way that is inconsistent with the First Amendment and our nation's history," said Lee Rowland, American Civil Liberties of Nevada public advocate in Las Vegas. She promised a lawsuit challenging the city law.

Linda Lera-Randel El, longtime executive director of Straight from the Streets, a Las Vegas area homeless advocacy group, said she distributed water, sandwiches and bus tokens at the City Hall park Monday, but was not issued a summons.

"I'm not saying feeding people in the park is the answer," she said. "But I don't think people in power can just pass an ordinance every time they don't like something or they're frustrated by the inability to fix it."

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jul/31/073110578.html

[Magical]

1. Don't feed the Animals...nt

[ixion]

2. yes...in a police state, you see, it's important to drive the homeless

to try do something desperate for food, so they can be properly beaten and jailed and forgotten. :sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

3. I wonder if there are signs like Don't ffed the ducks?-don't feed people.

[slackmaster]

4. The San Diego PD has a "catch and release" program for the homeless

It's been working out pretty well for the most part.

San Diego's climate make it as close to ideal as you can get for homeless people. Our street folk look like pirates here. In most US cities the burden of bad weather makes them look more like zombies.

[Monkeyman]

5. You wonder the homeless man or women might of been a vet

[saigon68]

18. A few probably ARE

They are now GETTING PAYBACK FROM CORPORATE AMERIKA

and the DISCIPLES of the awol chimpanzee

[Megahurtz]

6. Mayor Oscar Goodman says:

>>>"They should be using their trucks to get the homeless over to a mission, where they can get them some counseling, instead of playing games with donuts."<<<

There is no counseling to explain why the world is so fucked, nimrod!:freak:

[Sequoia]

10. Counseling?!

Counselor: So why are you homeless?

Vet: I lost my farm and home because of enimate doiman.

Counselor: Do you have a family?

Vet: Did.

Counselor: Where are they now?

Vet: (Shrugs)

Conselor: We're serving chipped beef on toast. Doesn't that sound tasty?

Vet: That's what they served us a Fort Dix.

Counselor: Then it'll be like old times!

Vet: Sure it will kid. My buddies died over there in Nam. Heck, you weren't even born yet, ya little wipper snapper. Like old times you say. I served my country and lost a finger trying to fire my jammed up gun at someone who tried to kill me. Come back here, everyone calls me a baby killer. Go to school at night on the GI Bill, work at the steel plant...

Counselor: I thought you lived on a farm.

Vet: All we could grow was soybeans. I hate soybeans. Look, why was I brought here? All I wanted was a cup of hot coffee and a damn doughnut those TV peopole were offering me. Why do I gotta talk to you?

[KurtNYC]

7. The ultimate crack down of free speech:

"Please help me I'm hungry" = jail or fines for all parties

[Scribe]

8. A part of this story pleases me greatly.

"... after they refused to move their news van from inside the park ..."

Nice to see reporters push back against police 'do not cover this' pronouncements.

[NVMojo]

9. good point, this is a healthy gridlock on their part! About damn time!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. Remember Mayor LaGuardia of New York?

He was a judge in a court there during the Depression, and a man was brought in who had been caught stealing a loaf of bread. His defense was he was out of work and was starving. La Guaridia fined him $10, then rescinded the fine-adding that he was fininf all the officers of the court who were present $10 instead because they lived in a city where a man who wanted to work but couldn't find it was destitute. The money was collected and given to the man as a grubstake to start life anew.

What happened to public servants like The Little Flower?

[NVMojo]

12. wow, I'v'e never heard that story ...our leaders today are too greedy

themselves, I guess ...

[demosincebirth]

13. They allow 'em to feed the fucking pigeons, which are bigger pests,

and won't allow them to pass out food to the homeless?

[Generic Brad]

15. Agreed. We're talking about people, not pigeons. n/t

[OhioBlue]

14. The Mayor has lost his damned mind

this has to absolutely be unconstitutional. How is this enforceable? Are people allowed to eat in the park? If I met my boyfriend at the park and brought a picnic lunch, am I allowed to give him a sandwich? And, if so, how is it okay for me to give HIM a sandwich, but not another human being b/c they may be homeless?

Of course efforts should be made to end the cycle of homelessness.. social agencies should reach out to individuals. But it is insane to try to make it illegal to give someone a gift of food. Will it soon be against the law to bring donuts to work, have a dinner party or bbq or give out free samples at the super market? Of course not - so how can it be illegal to give another person a sandwich regardless of their housing status? It's f-in ridiculous.

[Strawman]

16. Unbelievable. What friggin country am I in?

America? Are you kidding me?

Support the bombing of innocents and oppose a cease fire as a "fake peace."

Ticket Good Samaritans for feeding the homeless because it's not a "long-term solution?"

What the hell is going on here?

:grr:

[DumpDavisHogg]

17. Hey Oscar Goodman...

You really were a lot friendlier on 'Sesame Street', Oscar.

[IndianaGreen]

19. Jesus arrested! Details at eleven!

Such a godly country we live in. What was that thing about "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat."

[jwirr]

20. My guess is that they were arrested because they were

publicizing one of the cities dirty little secrets - just how severe the homeless problem is. Most cities do not want the rest of the world to see their dark side. Remember how the first visitors to mainland China were given "guided" tours through areas that the officials wanted them to see? Good for the media for a change.

[BreweryYardRat]

21. Let's let Mr. Repuke Mayor try being homeless for a month or two.

Bet he'd change his tune real fast.

[NVMojo]

22. Sadly, seawolf, Mayor Goodman is a Democrat ...friend of Harry Reid too ..

[BreweryYardRat]

24. My mistake, sorry

Seems we can produce our own screwups. Let's hope Sen. Reid can talk some sense into Goodman. (And isn't that an ironic last name?)

[mark414]

23. nobody who's homeless wants to go to those fucking shelters

because those shelters treat grown men and women like elementary school kids with all their fucking rules and regulations. i stayed in a shelter once and fuck if ever step foot inside one again.