Food Not Bombs, a volunteer group that feeds the homeless, was issued tickets by Houston police for distributing meals outside the Central Library in violation of a city ordinance. At the first trial for one of the volunteers, Phillip Picone, the jury found him not guilty. The city claims the ordinance is meant to connect homeless people with social services, while Food Not Bombs argues it violates their freedoms and rights. During the trial, the police officer testified that he issued the ticket but that he also likes feeding the homeless. In his closing argument, Picone’s lawyer argued there was reasonable doubt since the group had been feeding people there for years with the city’s permission. The jury unanimously found Picone not guilty, which his lawyer saw as confirmation of his faith in doing good for the poor.
I agree with you, but that line of thought doesn’t apply here. Houston is famously one of the big three blue bastions in Texas, arguably the bluest, and this is a city ordinance. As a Texan, I’d expect this ordinance literally anywhere except Houston, honestly (and possibly Austin).
I don’t know if this has anything to do with it, but Houston’s approach to homelessness is considered by some to be one of the most successful in the nation, and one of the components as I understand is to coordinate care for the homeless through a central agency, which then refers individuals to other programs and agencies. The idea is that it reduces duplication of effort. I’m not sure if this ordinance is related, though.
I mean, in that case, it seems to me that the right move is to add Food Not Bombs to the network and allow the city to refer people to them. This is a group of people who clearly care about their community, and they should be given every tool to help them succeed.