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Federal Court: First Amendment Protects Sharing Food With Homeless People
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Forbes
Posted: November 24th, 2019
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2018/08/27/federal-...
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that feeding the homeless is expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. The decision revives a challenge brought by a local chapter of Food Not Bombs, which sued Fort Lauderdale, Florida for requiring a permit to share food in public parks. Originally started in the early 1980s by anti-nuclear activists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Food Not Bombs protests war and poverty. Today, this network of social justice pacifists claims over 5,000 chapters worldwide. Writing for the court, Judge Adalberto Jordan explained that for the Fort Lauderdale chapter, providing food in a visible public space is an act of political solidarity meant to convey the organizations message. But in October 2014, Fort Lauderdale enacted an ordinance that bans sharing food in public parks, unless the hosts obtain a conditional use permit from the city. In February 2015, Food Not Bombs sued the city. Having ruled that Food Not Bombs does have a First Amendment right to share food, the 11th Circuit sent the case back down to the lower court. The courts opinion recognized sharing food with another human being is one of the oldest forms of human expression, said Kirsten Anderson, litigation director at the Southern Legal Counsel and lead attorney on the case. This decision strengthens our message to cities across the country that they need to invest in constructive solutions to homelessness instead of ... punishing people who seek to offer aid.
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