lured the homeless to parks
The New York Times has a more detailed story about the recent Las Vegas ordinance that prohibits groups from feeding the homeless in parks. After I posted that link, I worried that many cities might have similar policies. While I’ve seen groups distribute food in the streets of Berkeley, I’ve never seen similar efforts in Austin – could Austin have a similar ordinance? Apparently not, it seems. The article says, “the Las Vegas ordinance is believed to be the first to explicitly make it an offense to feed ‘the indigent’.” I guess Las Vegas is leading the way in cracking down on charity. The local ACLU says that the law is unenforceable because it violates the freedom of assembly clause of the Bill of Rights, and, at a practical level, it’s difficult to prove what aid recipients are indeed indigent. Regardless, this does little to improve Las Vegas’ crappy reputation for sprawl and greed.
Food Not Bombs used to serve meals in downtown Austin at Republic Square Park. I don’t know how active that group is or isn’t at this point in Austin, but they used to do a pretty good job of fulfilling their mission…at least for a couple of years.
I’ve never been to Las Vegas, but somehow their ordinance doesn’t surprise me in the least.
There’s a group that feeds the homeless in exchange for warping their minds with christianity (of course) most (if not all) Sundays under I-35 between 6th and 7th.
Yeah, I had forgotten about FNB. I used to see them in Tompkins Square Park as well. Austin FNB is actually on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force watch list, along with Indymedia and other leftist/progressive groups. I’ve had layovers in the Las Vegas airport far too many times, but I’ve never visited the city. I don’t think I’ll ever spend money there with ordinances like this one.