published April 3, 2008 in the Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO–A federal judge has rejected Orlando's request to throw out a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of its restrictions on feeding the homeless.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell said the city failed to prove there was no reason to bring the case to trial.
The First Vagabonds Church of God and a group called Orlando Food Not Bombs sued the city over a 2006 ordinance restricting how often groups can feed large numbers of homeless people in city parks.
City lawyers argued that the homeless advocates hadn't raised valid questions about the ordinance's constitutionality. But Presnell disagreed with four of the city's six arguments. The decision clears the way for a trial in June.
By Mark Schlueb | [Orlando] Sentinel Staff Writer
[published] March 27, 2008
Orlando's restrictions on feeding the homeless in public parks don't seem to serve any purpose other than spreading the problem around and discouraging the homeless from showing up, a federal judge said Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell made his opinion known while hearing arguments from a city lawyer, who wants a lawsuit challenging Orlando's homeless-feeding rules thrown out.
"How does moving the problem around address any legitimate public interest?" Presnell said. "You're not solving the problem, just moving it around and perhaps making it worse."
Presnell isn't expected to rule on the request to dismiss the lawsuit for a few weeks. But if his questions and comments were any indication, he doesn't think much of the city's argument that the rules are needed for reasons of public safety, park crowding and litter.
Wednesday's 90-minute hearing could signal trouble for the city's controversial ordinance, which is being watched by local governments and advocates for the homeless across the country.
In July 2006, the Orlando City Council restricted feedings at city parks in response to complaints from residents and business owners around Lake Eola Park who said the regular meals created a dangerous nuisance. The city now bans groups from serving meals at a park without a permit. No group may obtain a permit for the same park more than twice a year, forcing them to rotate among the city's dozens of parks.
Two groups that regularly feed the homeless, First Vagabonds Church of God and Orlando Food Not Bombs, sued the city to overturn the ordinance on constitutional grounds. A trial is scheduled in late June.
Much of the discussion Wednesday centered on whether the regulation put an undue burden on the religious freedom of Brian Nichols, the formerly homeless pastor of First Vagabonds who feeds and preaches to the homeless in city parks.
Assistant City Attorney Lee Lombardy said Nichols can still help the homeless without holding large group feedings in a city park, which can lead to crime and sanitation problems.
Not so, said attorneys Glenn Katon of the American Civil Liberties Union and Jacqueline Dowd of the nonprofit law firm Legal Advocacy at Work. And the Sylvia Lane lot where the city permits homeless feedings -- in an industrial area -- is dangerous, unsanitary and keeps the homeless problem hidden from view, they said. The group Food Not Bombs prefers Lake Eola Park in part because of its visibility.
"They can be seen by people who may never have given a thought that homelessness is a problem in the city of Orlando," Dowd said. "They have absolutely no opportunity to do that when they are on Sylvia Lane, down by the railroad tracks, under the expressway, next to an OUC substation."
Only one person [Eric Montanez] -- a member of Food Not Bombs -- has been arrested since the ordinance was adopted, and he was acquitted by a jury. The city has suspended enforcement until the court challenge is decided.
Mark Schlueb can be reached at 407-420-5417 or mschlueb@orlandosentinel.com.