Chicago Judge Lifts Ban On Serving Food To Homeless In Parks

I ran across this piece in the Chicago Trib while doing a ProQuest search for homeless articles and thought folks here in Nashville would find this decision interesting, since the local authorities have at times attempted to ban the serving of food to the local Homeless in area parks. Like attempting to ban all panhandling, banning "feeding" (I abhor using that word, since the Homeless aren't wild animals at some zoo) of the Homeless in public spaces appears to be unconstitutional. While there are ways that authorities work around this "tiny" detail, having precedence in a federal court will certainly help the Homeless in future battles.

Judge rejects ban on feeding homeless; [Chicagoland Early Edition Edition]

Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Aug 26, 2007. pg. 13

A federal judge permanently barred the city from preventing people from feeding the homeless in parks, but upheld some other park restrictions that critics targeted as equally unfair.

The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Robert Jones allows the city to continue to enforce other laws, including trespassing laws, permit requirements for park gatherings of more than 25 people and the right to designate certain park areas for children's use only.

Jones ruled that the plaintiffs had not met the burden of showing that the laws showed a discriminatory intent.