Cities set limits on serving food to homeless people

[Jcrowley]

Cities set limits on serving food to homeless people

By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

Cities are cracking down on charities that feed the homeless, adopting rules that restrict food giveaways to certain locations, require charities to get permits or limit the number of free meals they can provide.

Orlando, Dallas, Las Vegas and Wilmington, N.C., began enforcing such laws last year. Some are being challenged.

Last November, a federal judge blocked the Las Vegas law banning food giveaways to the poor in city parks. In Dallas, two ministries are suing, arguing that the law violates religious freedom.


DALLAS HOMLESS: The 'Lord's table' deemed illegal

"Going after the volunteers is new," says Michael Stoops of the National Coalition for the Homeless. "They think that by not feeding people, it will make the homeless people leave."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-26-homeless-laws_N.htm?csp=1

[LSK]

1. so is denying food to the hungry a Christian value from the bible???

:sarcasm:

[marmar]

2. It's that shadow 11th commandment:

Thou shall not feed the homeless.

[RedXIII]

37. Sounds like Hypocrites,,,

Because didn't Jesus say "to Clothe the naked and help the needy."

[tonka023]

3. the war on the poor

this is the surge

[ThomCat]

19. You're right.

And if the homeless start dying of malnutrician in greater numbers, well, I'm sure they'll find ways to cover that up.
x(

[wuushew]

4. Not enough info in the article

Unless the permit requirements are unreasonable I do not object to this.

[Madspirit]

6. I have to ask

As a real person who used to be really homeless, I have to ask, how can you NOT object to this?
Lee

[wuushew]

10. I think the public interest is served

when permitting sheds info on who is authorized to do what in a proscribed capacity.

I would only object if the cost or hassle of such permits greatly reduced the charity given. Permitting should not be viewed as a soley negative idea.

[Bluerthanblue]

13. are the hungry not part of the "Public Interest"? Are those who

choose to be sure that food is available to all not part of the "Public Interest"? seems to me the only people who would be truly "interested" are those who would like to control and eliminate programs like these which make them feel uncomfortable.

Sad world this-

peace,
blu

(show me a permit that doesn't have strings,$ and hoops attached, and I'll reconsider, but I've not encountered one, nor have I heard of one)

[wuushew]

16. The Dallas regulations seem reasonable to me

http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Texas/dallas/volumei/preface?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:dallas_tx

SEC. 17-1.6. DEFENSES FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF ACTIVITIES.
(a) It is a defense to prosecution under this chapter, except as provided in Section 17-1.6(b), that, at the time of the offense, the person charged was:

(1) conducting food operations that are licensed, and inspected at least once a year, under federal or state law (as illustrated by, but not limited to, milk producers, day care facilities, nursing homes, and meat processors);

(2) selling, distributing, transporting, or storing a raw agricultural commodity (including, but not limited to, raw vegetables and fruit, and pure honey) by the original producer, provided that the sale, distribution, transportation, or storage is on property owned or leased by the original producer;

(3) selling, distributing, or serving food at an event, party, or other special gathering that is not open to persons other than the members or invited guests of the sponsor, provided that there is no public advertisement of the event, public solicitation of funds at or for the event, or participation by the general public in the event;

(4) conducting the retail sale or distribution of non-potentially hazardous food from a fixed facility if the food is acquired and sold or distributed in cans, bottles, or other prepackaged containers that are not opened before obtained by a consumer, and no food manufacturing, processing, or preparing operations are conducted at the facility; or

(5) a church, civic, or other charitable organization serving or distributing food, without charge, to homeless individuals on public or private property, provided that the organization:

(A) was conducting that activity at a location approved by the director;

(B) had written consent from the property owner to conduct that activity on the property;

(C) was currently registered with the director (on a form provided by the director that is required to be completed on an annual basis) to conduct that activity on the property;

(D) conducted the activity in accordance with all terms and conditions of the registration as required by the director; and

(E) had met annual training requirements for safe food handling as required by the director.

(b) A person commits an offense if he violates, or fails to comply with, a term or condition of a homeless feeding registration issued pursuant to Section 17-1.6(a)(5). (Ord. 26023)

[Leopolds Ghost]

25. By the terms of this bill, it is legal to feed rich people but not poor people

Unorganized groups cannot have a public barbecue in the park under the terms of this bill.

That's right, read it and see for yourself.

Fucking so-called "liberals" and "conservatives" who don't believe
in the most basic tenets of civil libertarianism or social justice.

[ThomCat]

20. Since when is the health and well-being of homeless people

NOT part of the public interest? When did they stop being part of the public?

Why would it be in the public interest to make it illegal to help people in need without jumping through bureaucratic hoops first? That would totally end all individual, small group, and spontaneous acts of charity.
x(

[Jcrowley]

23. That's cruel

Using mercantile language to defend the most base of activities possible by The State. That's just vicious.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
by Emma Lazarus, New York City, 1883

[Leopolds Ghost]

26. Hear, hear. To quote William Carlos Williams:

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

"This Is Just to Say", Collected Poems 1921-1931

And also:


so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

Anyone who cannot understand poetry cannot understand
why we do not want to live in a world that resembles
Terry Gilliam's _Brazil_ (1984).

[Bluerthanblue]

12. I'd like to know too- how can anyone not find this wrong?- eom

[Leopolds Ghost]

24. I have no sympathy for your attitude. Permits by definition proscribe activity.

That is their purpose. To restrict who can, and cannot, eat a free meal.

I guess it's OK to SELL food,

but if you eat a free meal, then that is "abusing our FREEDOMS".

Our freedom to BUY.

Not just to live our lives.

Just like the city of Manassas VA passed a law
(targeting poor people) prohibiting families from sleeping
anywhere in their house...

except their bedroom.

Because "freedom isn't free", right wuushew?

The tyrranny you and your sort advocate is the sort that would be deemed
intolerable throughout history.

Dictatorships have fallen over this sort of SHIT.

[valerief]

5. They could always put rat poison in the food.

:sarcasm:
Oh, wait, China is doing that for us.

<<"The feedings were happening several times a week" in parking lots and sidewalks downtown, says Dewey Harris, director of Wilmington's Community Services Department. "A lot of the merchants said, 'We feel uncomfortable when you have all these homeless being fed downtown when we're trying to attract tourists.' " >>

[Leopolds Ghost]

27. "Feedings", huh? What are they, animals to these people?

They are obviously not Christians....

or if so, they are Calvinist heretics.

(the merchants and government assholes)

yes, I said it, Calvinist heretics. They are now saying only calvinist
fundamentalists are real Christians...what's good for the goose is good
for the gander.

[goddess40]

7. it's just sick

but it doesn't surprise me any. What does Scrooge say "they should die and decrease the population" They have to be born but after that the right doesn't give a damn. Those not in the top 1% income bracket are only good to be manipulated and exploited.

[AllegroRondo]

8. Why dont we just make it illegal to be homeless?

then they'll all just go away.

:sarcasm:

[Firespirit]

9. The sad thing is that this might be welcomed

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this is the end result of the War on the Homeless. And, awful as it is, they might welcome it. Jail would at least be a roof over their heads and food to eat.

Oh wait, that was a Scrooge comment too.

What world are we living in again???

[AllegroRondo]

11. It just reminds me of Zimbabwe

where the current government tried to control the incredible inflation (over 1,000%) by outlawing it.

yeah, that will work!

[Bluerthanblue]

15. truth is, it IS- loitering, vagrancy, are 2- the laws are there, and

are being enforced more and more-

"Compassionate 'conservatisim' at work" :nuke:


peace,
blu

[H2O Man]

14. This is so wrong.

Our culture is becoming dangerously cold-hearted.

[blues90]

17. I think it's an abomination

A crime to humanity and insanity at it's best .

The day I stop giving anyone homeless food is the day I find a robin hood .

I really wonder how those who make these sick laws and those who fell they are good laws will feel when someday they end up on the streets , I hope they display a badge stating they are against feeding the homeless and I will be certain to pass them by .

America is continuing to become one huge shit hole .

[mark414]

18. that's horrible

people talk about "the homeless" as if they were just a single bad case of herpes as opposed to a large group of very different people that are out there for very different reasons

what a bunch of fuckers

[shadowknows69]

21. "it will make the homeless people leave"

No, it will make the homeless people die, but that's the real plan anyway isn't it?

[SoCalDem]

22. That policy, "If you feed them, they will come" , is typical republican

Republicans think that all homeless people congregate somewhere and have meetings to decide which freebie meal they want ...on a daily basis.

No one can extrapolate what homelessness really means.. It means :

no refrigerator
no PLACE to keep belongings safe
no safe place to dare to sleep
nowhere to wash up

Once someone is caught up in the maelstrom, it's a downward spiral.

Hard to find meaningful work with no way to wash up or clean and press clothing..(especially hard if the clothes you have are the ones on your back)

Hard to keep kids in the same school, and get them to class with no money for transportation..and what with having to play shelter-roulette...never knowiing which one will have room.

[Colobo]

28. This is heartbreaking

This is the criminalization of social activism.

[Leopolds Ghost]

29. In California, it is illegal to walk on the sidewalk without an ID and $5 in your pocket.

It is OK to drive without $5 in your pocket, since the act of driving a car makes you a full citizen, unlike those bus-riding vagrants.

Sort of like the Roman Empire gradations of citizenship.

If a full citizen ("cavalier", a member of the lazy, hedonistic and honor-obsessed warrior-aristocracy class which settled the Deep South) rides down an unmounted prole on horseback, he gets off scott-free. The same was true in ancient India, the same is true today.

[eridani]

31. WTF? Surely not all over CA?

ID I can believe but $5.00?

[OneBlueSky]

30. just goes to show that "compassionate conservative" is indeed an oxymoron . . . n/t

.

[BulletproofLandshark]

32. As I said in a prior thread on the Vegas crackdown

People should openly defy these immoral laws and dare local governments to stop them.

[enigmatic]

33. This is vile

Truly disgusting.

[tom_paine]

34. Orlando, Dallas, Las Vegas and Wilmington, N.C. Deep in Loyal Bushie Country.

:puke:

Just what the hell are these Bushevik Bastards turning our beautiful nation into?

:puke:

[marions ghost]

36. also

these are tourist meccas. Vagrants are bad for tourist biz.

Expediency and contempt for the poor exist in every US city. I live in what people think of as a liberal
city. The homeless are kicked around and abused here too.

Even people calling themselves Christians participate in efforts to make the homeless go somewhere else.

[tom_paine]

39. That is true, it goes beyond simple BushPutinism

You are correct that this kind of stuff has been going on since time unremembered.

Somehow, it seems more heartless and pronounced during BushPutinist administrations.

[Sapphire Blue]

35. Have you seen the report "A Dream Denied: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities"?

If not, here's the link: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/index.html

[BlooInBloo]

38. Field Of Nightmares: If you don't build it, they won't come.

EDIT: Fucking evil bastards.