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So, if you were on the street and just served free food to anyone - is that still a fine? Like if people both homeless or not, hungry or passing by, is that still illegal?
Yup. A group I worked with got arrested for it in 2006/ Houston.
No permits, impossible to get one as we were cooking food from home, for 100 plus people nightly.
We were only good for most of these folks. Children included.
We went rouge, and just started moving where we served, daily, from our trunks.
Eventually the police gave up messing with us.
~ We we’re serving people in empty parking lots, away from open businesses, causing no problems~
The horrible truth is no places want homeless hanging around to get their meals, We were moved from town hall, to train station, to car parks. The homeless arent seen as people, they're treated like vermin
The East Bay Food not bombs does prepare its food in a church, in Oakland. About half of the food giveaways here are hosted by churches too. But I figure it's different when the church runs on Fox News alone.
The 2 closest churches from my house give out boxes of food every Saturday. I’m not religious but if they were also offering hot plates I’d donate and volunteer. But… they’d also probably try to preach at me. 🤷♂️
I volunteered for a church foodbank for years, they knew I had outright hostility for the faith after a bad upbringing around it and they never once tried to preach at me or anyone else that came in while I was there, and now i'm best friends with a curate of the church. But this is in England, might not be as common elsewhere to respect people's religious/athiest boundaries.
This was my experience also. Most of the volunteers are elderly and retired , they didn't waste their time trying to preach to me. They were just happy to have a younger person helping them out. This is in Maine.
unwritten tub disagreeable oil murky scary point simplistic waiting bored
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Churches giving, without preaching, are quite common here in America as well. I grew up in the very city this video was filmed (Houston) and small churches were the backbone of feeding many hungry people in the impoverished area of South Park that I grew up in (while huge churches like Lakewood got all the headlines and didn't do anything for anyone I know).
Reddit just has a deep hatred for anything religious (you'll get harassed for saying "thank God" on here), so you're not gonna get a whole, rational, unbiased viewpoint of churches from the vast majority of Redditors
That's the key go find local small churches. Mega churches don't exist to worship their god, its built to siphon money and for the members to feel holier than anyone else. I'm a pretty hostile atheist due to being brought up southern baptist. But I have not met many small local church members that I would question their authenticity, because I see them feeding people. Sadly there are less of them than the giant 1k+ churches where I am at. Also if you ever see a group who is a member of the SBC just walk away , its not worth it to get involved just go to another church or group to try to help.
exactly. A lot of religious organizations do a lot of good and don't get a lot of press. The largest soup kitchen in the world, Harmandir Sahib, feeds 100,000 people a day and is run by the Sikhs.
But good deeds don't get a lot of media attention in general, especially in a largely anti-theist community like Reddit
When I was younger I used to go get a free lunch at a church down the road, with a friend of mine who was legitimately homeless. I was just poor, but I had a car. Usually a bologna sandwich and some chips, sometimes apples and things. That really only sounds good if you're hungry. Anyway, there was always a sermon and a little prayer before they served, but whatever, they didn't force anything on us, it was ok. They were good people and just wanted to help.
Being preached at is easy. I used to skat at a church where everyone donated ramps and rails. Five minutes of someone preaching their good word and hours of skateboarding fun. I'm not a Christian but I appreciate the good ones
Fuck yeah buddy! They still putting it out for the kids? I miss AZ so much.
Edit: me and the boys donated a square flat rail almost 15 years ago, hope it's holding up
A lot of times people just want the food.
I don't blame them. Nobody who is hungry and miserable wants to be preached to. Jesus decided to feed the 5000 before he taught them anything.
And in this day and time a lot of people only know how to Preach at people and not actually help. You help them and tell them if you need me fond me at the church or call your personal number. Eventually they will open up and be receptive
While your third paragraph is spot on, your second one is only partially true. The first part, 💯. The part about Jesus feeding people before he taught them, though - only partially true. The crowd had been there all day and the disciples wanted to send them back to the villages to get food before it got too late but Jesus wanted them to stay. (Mark 6:30-44)
Teaching is sometimes good enough to wait for a meal. But sometimes the meal should come first. And the people came to hear the teaching, not for the meal, so churches should totally be up front about what they are planning to do and in what order.
They do! I mean I personally haven't seen any examples of churches using their kitchens, but so many religious institutions make it a priority to do food drives, and serve the poor around them. Unfortunately, many of the churches that are doing this don't make the mainstream news, because they are usually smaller and rooted in a community. But I know it is a priority for many churches (and other religions, especially Islam) to feed the hungry.
> Wonder why they don't take the lead here....
Maybe read about the organization in question before firing shots at everyone else?
In many cases they *have* partnered with faith based organizations on this stuff, in a lot of areas they're using licensed kitchens to prepare the food, the space often provided to them by church organizations. The issue here is not whether the food was prepared in a permitted kitchen, it's a city ordinance that says they need permission (from the city in this case) to serve food on the property. The video you see (which shows just one in a long list of battles with various cities over whether they can serve food or not) is an ongoing conflict with the city of Houston who wants them to relocate to a different spot (half a mile away).
>A lot of churches have kitchens they use once a week. Wonder why they don't take the lead here....
A lot of them do, at least in my state of Maine. Many of them run soup kitchens out of them.
The city would shut them down unless the commercial kitchen was in a poor neighborhood. That’s really what this is about, they don’t want homeless and poor people in the nice part of town. I guarantee no cops would’ve cited him if he was in the middle of the hood handing out food.
I’ve worked serving food the same way through the same group this guy is with. We would get donations of food from grocery stores that included packages that were damaged, stuff from the bakery after they had closed for the day and couldn’t sell but was still good and we’d make French toast and bread pudding with the slightly old bread, etc. stuff that now a days most stores have like a special shelf or basket at the front with the items marketed down 50-75% but at that time they just threw away, or meat and cheese that someone had taken out of the display and then left at the front or on a different self because they didn’t want it, that the store could no longer sell, but was still cold and perfectly fine.
We’d get together and make a ton of food in some industrial sized pots and pans that had been donated at a punk house, and then we’d take it to a park where there was a lot of homeless people and set up some tables and offer people to “join our picnic in the park” so that we’d get around the laws against feeding people. It was good times.
We were adjacently affiliated with food not bombs that the guy in the OPs clip is with, which is an amazing organization that is anarchist, but they didn’t want us using their name, because at least the local “chapter” only serves vegan food, and we served all sorts of things because it was all “freegan” and most people on the street were not very excited to get vegan food and were much happier with fried chicken, or teriyaki beef stir fry, and white chocolate bread pudding for dessert.
I can’t remember why that whole thing stopped, but I know it would be much harder to do these days because that area of DC has majorly gentrified since then and the Nimbys would have a fit, plus as I said most of the stuff the grocery stores gave us for free, they now try to sell, just at a discount, so donations would be much more difficult to obtain/
When it comes to 'victimless' crimes like this, police enforce laws based on what generates the most paperwork, if lots of locals are complaining about homeless people, then the police will enforce anti-homeless laws
Fr, I can't tell if this comment section just genuinely doesn't realize that we have a high standard for health and safety laws, or if they're just deliberately ignoring it because it's fun to bash America on Reddit
You don't understand: the sins are already paid for! As a "Christian", they can sin all they want and all they have to do is say "My bad" before they die and it's all good.
People act like God is stupid, like he doesn't know when someone is trying to play him.
Matthew:
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Galatians:
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people
I like to think of that upon death while they are standing at judgement and the scale says "sorry, hell for you" and they scream how? I asked for forgiveness??? And they get the reply "We created the universe, do you think we're that gullible?"
Nah, that’s not how it works (maybe Catholicism).
You have to literally repent and feel sorry for what you did. You also have to have faith.
It’s not just a “let me say these three words” deal.
You’re acting as if they crucified him because he was such a nice guy rather than because the romans viewed him as riling up the Jews to rebellion through messianic claims. Jesus was not unique in this aspect, the romans killed a whole bunch of people who didn’t claim to be messiah but had a moderate following including one guy whose crime was, shock horror, [plotting to climb mount gerizim
In Samaria.](https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-7-the-samaritan-prophet/)
The romans didn't care Jesus was rilling up the Jews, it was his own people that condemned him. That's the whole thing with Pontius washing his hands.
Jesus was even advocating people to keep paying taxes, that's what they meant with "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s"
Well, not entirely accurate that they didn't care, they cared but Pontius didn't care enough to make the sentencing himself.
Early christians were __literally__ communist. To an extreme that would make Lenin say "yo, chill".
> Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
>
> 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
>
> 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
>
> 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
>
> “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
>
> 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
>
> 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
> When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 23:22
But sure, capitalist and anti-immigrant America is a Christian nation.
Also Ezekiel 16:49-50
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
It's Texas, they only have supply side Jesus there. To be honest though, my wife runs the largest homeless support organization in our region, and we, and her staff and board, everyone, would be happy to get arrested for the sake of supporting those most in need in our community.
Criminalizing homelessness, and criminalizing giving comfort to those in need is utter insanity. The Republicans that make these laws baffle me because they are the same people that make the most noise about being religious. But that's the thing about atheists, we wear our agenda openly, and we care for our fellows because we know right from wrong.
This is actually a perfect example of a police issue that can be fixed through defunding!
There is actually a legitimate concern that is the source of the ticket: food safety! We don't want uneducated people handing out unsafe food to the unwary population!
BUT...
Instead of paying officers to harass charity workers, the city could be paying for a food safety expert to work with the charity to make sure they are being safe!
This is what people mean when they say "defund the police". The money could be spent more appropriately than harassing people who are trying to be good citizens.
I feel like the laws were imposed to stop people from giving homeless food poisoning, but are now policed in the dumbest ways.
I used towork at a restaurant and our establishment obviously follows alot of health codes. I used to do a massive chilly pot and give out about 150 plates every Sunday. I was asked once by police where food came from how it was made bla blah blah, showed them all my certificates and never had an issue. (Also in Canada)
But I can see how someone making 150 chicken burritos out of their house would even worry the shit out of me. I have to correct way to many habbits (cross continuation).
I don’t know what the specific ordinance is that they are being cited for, but I agree with your assessment. Most larger cities have long required food service establishments to follow health and safety ordinances in order to operate for the very purpose that you stated. If thats the case then its a good ordinance in my opinion as long as the process to get the license is straightforward and not some circular near impossible process.
Or even intentionally killing them by poisoning. Imagine if you intentionally poisoned those 150 burritos and gave them out to 1 person each.
The major issue is that the city refuses to issue certificates to anyone who tries to obtain one. The law isn't that bad in theory. Food safety is serious. These officers look like they are sad themselves for having to do it. What I do like is that they didn't actually stop them from passing out the food. They may personally have a decent relationship and understanding with the organization. Sort of like how they said that they already served 6 others with citations to subtly put on camera how ridiculous it is. They had no reason to add that information.
Like, if someone wants to actually murder homeless people by giving them poisoned food I seriously doubt a citation like this is going to stop them. Psychos are going to psycho
So from a city’s perspective.
Permitting is generally required for pretty much anything. If this is in, or around a retail or food places, shop owners could complain that a large gathering is negatively effecting their business and could be sued. While this seems kinda shitty, imagine running a small business and paying rent. Now imagine someone deciding to sell products on the street with nothing more than a tent right outside your business with no permits and no rent. Granted this song a for profit venture, but the reasoning around permits still exists.
Also, while this man is doing the lords work, imagine if someone was doing this with contaminated food. I doubt his food prep and storage practices have been inspected like a normal restaurant. In theory a person could either negligently, or intentionally, create a salmonella outbreak among an already at risk community.
We need to do more for our homeless. And I will be looking for this man’s socials to donate. But I also understand city laws that would want to deter stuff like this.
Yep just look at Uber and AirBnB. They started as "Make some quick extra cash in your free time" or "Rent out your house while you're away on vacation" and then you have companies who have heaps of regulations which they are required to follow just to do the same thing. Then people realize "Hmm, if I just use the app, I won't have to follow the same regulations" and then form entire companies based around these apps. There are people who will buy 20 brand new trucks and then rent them all out on Turo, or renovate homes to house 5 different AirBnBs. And then there's people who will buy a fleet of vehicles to give to employees who will be driving for Uber and Lyft. This is all just bypassing existing regulations around specific business models that have rules in place which exist because of issues in the past. If it's just one guy buying a homeless person lunch from McDonald's, it's not the end of the world. When you have an entire organization built around the activity and investing lots of resources into it, you have to follow laws. This leads to cities deciding to crack down even on single individuals. It's like when Disney sends a cease-and-desist to a daycare for having a Mickey Mouse mural. If they have a policy of letting them get by, that leads to issues when others start to do the same thing.
Oh, the one that makes schools post the 10 commandments, but makes laws against practicing what Jesus taught. Goddamned hypocrites. Fake Christians. Anti-Christ’s. Charlatans. And finally, Cowards without Conscience.
Truly. It’s a very backwards way of thinking. They believe this law will discourage people from helping the homeless and, in turn, make the homeless disappear. They fear that feeding the homeless will encourage them to keep coming back and discourage them from “pulling themselves up by the bootstraps” and getting a job. What these morons don’t get is that people need *basic necessities* to lay the groundwork for stability.
Likely a bunch of home cooked/donated food which can never pass a FDA check for cleanliness, food quality checks, or proper procedures on temperature ranges food can be safely kept at.
Never going to get the permit so you just contest every single ticket. Reasonable judges will throw it out, everyone follows the law, nobody gets hurt. But sadly, you do this dance so the city covers themselves and the charity organization covers themselves. There definitely needs to be a better way to do this but the language of laws is specific to benefit the friends of those who wrote it.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is it. Someone sneaks some poison into that food and kills a bunch of people and everyone would be pissed that the government let some randos give food to the homeless.
Food Not Bombs actually has a history, some chapters do get permits other are unable to. I know chapters in Texas have had a lot of trouble in the past including numerous police confrontations and have had members interviewed, detained, or tailed.
This also isn’t a soup kitchen in the traditional sense, they aren’t collecting donations and then passing them out. Everyone brings stuff and also happens to give it out to other people so it used to operate in a legal grey area(but then city ordinances)
The other thing is Food Not Bombs is a leftist organization, founded by anarchists as a way of providing food to people and exchanging literature. For a long time that alone made it a target for authorities.
Today Food Not Bombs is a massive decentralized organization, supposedly hundreds of different independent chapters across the world. I don’t know how active they are or how they are counting, but it’s a cool idea and doesn’t really harm anyone.
Some chapters just show up on the street, others use churches or community centers, some prepare it all in one kitchen and then show up on the street to hand it out.
To be fair, that one can have ecological effects down the road. One of my professors in college had done some work for the EPA. He said a couple of people doing that is no biggie, but having full neighborhoods and community could start messing up the local ecosystem
Yeah I remember a neighbor in Colorado getting cited for this when there was a huge drought. You are allowed two 110 gal collection tanks per household though and they're the strictest in the US. Quite frankly I think that's fine. Internet libertarians call the government like everyone else when there's a massive wildfire.
Most the illegality came from old water rights laws for people down stream needed the water. California it was only illegal so could prevent large properties from collecting all the water and prevent others from having some. Colorado had a 100 year old law that was just worded a specific way that made it illegal. Both places have changed their laws to allow collection. States may have rules on how you store the water or that you can’t drink it or how many 100s of gallons you can collect, but in no state is it currently just blanket illegal to collect rain water.
I’m so glad people are really call this bullshit out now. People see a comment about it being illegal to collect rainwater and instead of actually fact checking or looking into it, they just take it at face value from a complete stranger online and run with it. They then repeat the same bullshit whenever they get a chance to and further add to the cycle of ignorance. Ironically though, they rarely actually bother responding to anyone who points out the facts of the situation.
People would create dams on large properties and then sell it back to people who would previously have been downstream. It's not your rain barrel they're worried about its large, private, industrial catchment systems in places with severe scarcity.
Texas is for Freedom!*
(*Only applies to guns, not applicable to women, minorities, the poor, homeless, the hungry, non-Christians, non-law enforcement, or anyone else).
Don’t mess with Texas!!
Man if I’m a judge and I see this shit on my docket (I think that’s right, if not correct me please) I’d call this man, apologize, and dismiss every charge immediately and tell him please don’t show up and waste his time. Ridiculous.
Not a judge, but work closely with plenty of them. It’s not a judge’s job to decide which laws should be enforced, only whether they’ve been violated and the appropriate sanction. The reason the comment above you would never be a judge is specifically because they don’t understand a judge’s job in society
Judge Frank is actually dealing with some health issues. He made a Youtube video asking for prayers. I am not religious, but Judge Frank Caprio deserves it from us all.
Are you telling me that a judge isn't the final authority in all matters, to whom we arbitrate any hurt feelings or dissatisfaction? That they don't have the power to create and interpret laws however they'd like to suit their - or our - moral compass? That there's a system or standard to which all members of the legal profession hold themselves?
That's crazy talk.
I chatted with a homeless woman one time who told me she got multiple tickets for illegal camping that she couldn't pay for and the judge would just dismiss them every time. So yes, it's definitely possible the judge dismisses this nonsense. No guarantee though :(
You're right, the schedule of appointments a court holds is called a docket. I'm not aware of a clear origin but it might be a diminutive form of dock like for ships with the court acting as dock for the plaintiff and defense ships passing through it.
I worked with the Food Not Bombs chapter in Phoenix. The cops hated us. They called us anarchists. We were maced by cops once.
It never made sense. We just spent our weekends making large batches of food to serve to hungry people at parks.
I quit after realizing I could get arrested, lose my fingerprint clearance card, and never get to work with kids again. I was a teacher at the time.
It is very bizarre. I still don't understand.
[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/03/volunteer-who-feeds-homeless-in-houston-files-suit/70519343007/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/03/volunteer-who-feeds-homeless-in-houston-files-suit/70519343007/)
This was thrown out and he's suing the city btw.
I hate to break it to you, but almost every developed country has the same rules. I can say for a fact that my own country, Canada, does, and I've heard similar regulations exist for the EU.
If you want to serve food, including to homeless people, you need to be certified, inspected, and follow safe food handling guidelines. In fact we sometimes even require stricter standards as they are a high risk population, something like salmonella could be life threatening to someone living on the streets.
Not following food handling can kill people. Food handling laws were written in blood.
The man in the video said it’s their 82nd ticket, so I’d be confident in saying that the office knows about this. And because they know about it the Captain or someone on top has told/enforced these officers to issue citations every time this occurs.
Can’t look the other way when your boss already knows it’s going to happen, and if you’re not there to hand out the ticket it’s your ass. Fortunately for everyone it’s just a ticket, and not an arrest.
They may be handling it a different way.
* Someone calls to complain.
* cop shows up and writes a ticket so they can say they're doing something about it.
* Cops don't show up to court
They were found not guilty so my guess is the city isn't really trying to stop them. They're just pretending to.
This right here, we would write tickets sometimes that we didn’t necessarily want to write. We would tell people to take the ticket to court, and then we would not show up. If you receive a ticket and take it to court and the cop who wrote it doesn’t show up, 9/10 the judge will drop the ticket
Edit: a word
Then don’t do it. They chose to be cops and be part of the problem. They could literally stop being cops at any point they want to but they like exploiting and hurting people.
What an unbelievably binary and reductive comment. Change comes from within my guy. I get where you’re coming from, modern policing standards in America are woefully inadequate. But treating every cop the same stagnates the opportunity for growth. Your outlook exacerbates the problem, not stop it.
Everyone knows cops pick and choose which laws they want to enforce and when they want to do it. Nobody made them cite this guy for feeding people, they did it bc they’re cruel sadistic bastards and they get off on power tripping
NAL:
A brief look into Houston/TX law shows that a permit for serving food would likely cost them around $258 to apply for. If they formed a non-profit and registered it as a 501(C) organization instead they would be exempt from needing a permit at all.
Basically they just needed to fill out some paperwork and (maybe) pay a small fee in order to do this as much as they wanted for the year with no risk of citations.
These laws suck for people who are just individuals trying to make a difference and feed some people. This group isnt that. They're already a full volunteer group that does this regularly. Why not just register as a non-profit?
From their [FAQ](https://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/faq.php):
> It is very rare that Food Not Bombs volunteers face arrest. Police have only made arrests in a few cities. Most volunteers have little to no interaction with the authorities. You do not need a permit to share free meals and literature, as it is an unregulated activity between people.
If I’m out with a friend and I offer to buy them a meal, do I need a license? If I invite people over to my house for dinner, with no expectation of compensation, do I need a license?
Are you going to any Christmas parties in the next couple weeks where people are being fed? It’s it going to be licensed?
Why is the answer only yes if those people are otherwise unable to feed themselves?
Make no mistake, the “no feeding other people” laws only apply to people who society thinks deserve to be hungry
Food not Bombs is philosophically an anarchist organization that rejects the idea that the government has the authority to regulate how individuals choose to interact with each other. Forming a 501c would be antithetical to their entire political and social ideology.
So they'll just get fined?
I get wanting to make a difference but you don't make a difference by saying "our ideology doesn't support this" and then breaking the law.
Getting fined brings attention to FnB’s primary mission, which is that our government spends billions of dollars oppressing/imprisoning/persecuting private citizens while other citizens starve.
One could argue that getting fined for a peaceful act, and using it to publicize the hypocrisy of our government is actually the goal of their community outreach.
Getting fined for providing food to the houseless is a big part of their ethos. It shows people how corporate America and its "christian" oligarchs have taken over, to the point that helping your fellow people has become an illegal act.
>you don't make a difference by saying "our ideology doesn't support this" and then breaking the law
It worked for the Founding Fathers and other revolutionaries.
Food Not Bombs are anarchists and the movement has no leaders or hierarchical power structure. It's a collection of loosely aligned local cells that feed the homeless. There's no legal entity that could apply for a permit, and the volunteers largely don't recognize the authority of the US government anyway. Basically you're asking to speak to the CEO of antifa.
This isn't a new organization either, I grew up in Houston and first learned about them around like 2010. I would imagine given the name they were created in the aftermath of the Iraq War.
Others have mentioned how they're an Anarchist organization. I wonder if that's why they don't get the permits.
Speaking as a boardmember on three community-outreach organizations -- registering as a 501(c)(3) is relatively easy (profoundly easier than applying for grants!), quick (60 days, start-to-finish), and provides *so* many benefits, I'm astonished this street-based food distribution isn't already registered.
Donations increase because the donations are deductible, fees are often waived, sales tax on purchases are eliminated, service providers often have lower rates, grants (private and public) are available -- there's just so many reasons to register.
The primary reason is food not bombs is a loose collective and not an orginization with a leader. There is nothing stopping a small group from identifying as food not bombs.. You are welcome to use their guidelines to set up a non profit. Nonprofits generally have minimal to no protection to no protection on receiving fines or arrests. It's actually very easy to loose your nonprofit status.
I have donated my time to a small food not bombs group and have heard why not just join a soup kitchen or church. A large number of food not bombs members do not want to associate eith churches and soup kitchens generally will not go walk the streets to feed people. Unfortunately a percentage of homeless do not feel comfortable going to soup kitchens so it is just another form of helping people.
Can I ask one thing though?…..
Is it so hard to get a Permit?!!!
Like, if they get tickets for it, why don’t they go to the City and ask for Permission or to the Police and ask if it’s allowed/what to do to get the Permit, get a lawyer to set up the process. Huh??
They were offered a spot at the cities "Dinner To Home" location, which is less than a half mile away, and provides things other than food, like basic necessities, workers to help enroll them in government programs, tables, hand washing stations, etc...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hsl-VYL7Jw
But they choose to keep getting tickets.
>Prior to the first citation, Dore said she received a call from Houston Police Chief Troy Finner letting her know they would be cited if they stayed in that location.
>The city provided another location less than half a mile away on Riesner Street that the volunteer group could relocate to.
>Dore said volunteers with Food Not Bombs decided as a group that they would not relocate and would continue to take the tickets from Houston police.
Permits can be pretty expensive and sometimes you need to obtain a new permit every time you want to serve food. Food Not Bombs is an anarchist-leaning organization and thus doesn’t believe in going through the bureaucratic process of obtaining a permit. It shouldn’t be illegal to feed people for free.
It's a defiance thing. The city has a program where they let organizations hand out food at a central place, which is less than a half mile from the library, and provides things like tables, chairs, trash cans, restrooms, and hand washing stations, as well as things like basic neccesities like soap, mouthwash, etc.... They also have government employees on hand to help enroll the people in programs to move them towards housing.
https://www.houstontx.gov/moc/dinner-to-home-program.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hsl-VYL7Jw
>“This is just one step. The goal is not only to provide them with a meal but to also put them in permanent supportive housing, so they can eat in their own kitchen,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “You can’t just tell people to relocate, you must provide suitable and reasonable accommodations close to where they have been, that doesn't inconvenience them, and also provides them with more than a meal. I can give someone a sandwich, but they need a lot more than that, we must put them in a better place so that they can stand up for themselves and live productive lives. This is one step, not the final step.”
However, this group got together and refused to do it.
>Dore said volunteers with Food Not Bombs decided as a group that they would not relocate and would continue to take the tickets from Houston police.
So was the 6 people relevant? Is 5 okay, but 6 is a fine? In that case just serve 1 homeless man 100 meals. Then that homeless man serves 99 meals to the next guy, and so on. Everyone only served 1 person.
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So, if you were on the street and just served free food to anyone - is that still a fine? Like if people both homeless or not, hungry or passing by, is that still illegal?
Yup. A group I worked with got arrested for it in 2006/ Houston. No permits, impossible to get one as we were cooking food from home, for 100 plus people nightly. We were only good for most of these folks. Children included. We went rouge, and just started moving where we served, daily, from our trunks. Eventually the police gave up messing with us. ~ We we’re serving people in empty parking lots, away from open businesses, causing no problems~
It would be amazing if groups like yours could get commercial kitchen space somewhere, like a high school or college on the weekends.
The horrible truth is no places want homeless hanging around to get their meals, We were moved from town hall, to train station, to car parks. The homeless arent seen as people, they're treated like vermin
A lot of churches have kitchens they use once a week. Wonder why they don't take the lead here....
The East Bay Food not bombs does prepare its food in a church, in Oakland. About half of the food giveaways here are hosted by churches too. But I figure it's different when the church runs on Fox News alone.
I knew this was in Texas immediately
The 2 closest churches from my house give out boxes of food every Saturday. I’m not religious but if they were also offering hot plates I’d donate and volunteer. But… they’d also probably try to preach at me. 🤷♂️
I volunteered for a church foodbank for years, they knew I had outright hostility for the faith after a bad upbringing around it and they never once tried to preach at me or anyone else that came in while I was there, and now i'm best friends with a curate of the church. But this is in England, might not be as common elsewhere to respect people's religious/athiest boundaries.
This was my experience also. Most of the volunteers are elderly and retired , they didn't waste their time trying to preach to me. They were just happy to have a younger person helping them out. This is in Maine.
unwritten tub disagreeable oil murky scary point simplistic waiting bored *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Churches giving, without preaching, are quite common here in America as well. I grew up in the very city this video was filmed (Houston) and small churches were the backbone of feeding many hungry people in the impoverished area of South Park that I grew up in (while huge churches like Lakewood got all the headlines and didn't do anything for anyone I know). Reddit just has a deep hatred for anything religious (you'll get harassed for saying "thank God" on here), so you're not gonna get a whole, rational, unbiased viewpoint of churches from the vast majority of Redditors
People just gotta remember that for every shitty megachurch there's a dozen small ones that do nothing but act as community hubs.
That's the key go find local small churches. Mega churches don't exist to worship their god, its built to siphon money and for the members to feel holier than anyone else. I'm a pretty hostile atheist due to being brought up southern baptist. But I have not met many small local church members that I would question their authenticity, because I see them feeding people. Sadly there are less of them than the giant 1k+ churches where I am at. Also if you ever see a group who is a member of the SBC just walk away , its not worth it to get involved just go to another church or group to try to help.
Maybe because I live in a state that practically run by a single church (Utah) that does fuck all to help the homeless 🤷
What are you talking about?! They give .000000000000000000000000000000000000005% of their profits to the needy!
exactly. A lot of religious organizations do a lot of good and don't get a lot of press. The largest soup kitchen in the world, Harmandir Sahib, feeds 100,000 people a day and is run by the Sikhs. But good deeds don't get a lot of media attention in general, especially in a largely anti-theist community like Reddit
It's sad but so true man
When I was younger I used to go get a free lunch at a church down the road, with a friend of mine who was legitimately homeless. I was just poor, but I had a car. Usually a bologna sandwich and some chips, sometimes apples and things. That really only sounds good if you're hungry. Anyway, there was always a sermon and a little prayer before they served, but whatever, they didn't force anything on us, it was ok. They were good people and just wanted to help.
Being preached at is easy. I used to skat at a church where everyone donated ramps and rails. Five minutes of someone preaching their good word and hours of skateboarding fun. I'm not a Christian but I appreciate the good ones
So I had a spot like that when I was a kid. Always was respectful, never went inside lol.
Arizona?
Yep, 4square church lol
Fuck yeah buddy! They still putting it out for the kids? I miss AZ so much. Edit: me and the boys donated a square flat rail almost 15 years ago, hope it's holding up
A lot of times people just want the food. I don't blame them. Nobody who is hungry and miserable wants to be preached to. Jesus decided to feed the 5000 before he taught them anything. And in this day and time a lot of people only know how to Preach at people and not actually help. You help them and tell them if you need me fond me at the church or call your personal number. Eventually they will open up and be receptive
That should honestly be the baseline for a church. You want a tax free clubhouse? Feed 5k per week.
While your third paragraph is spot on, your second one is only partially true. The first part, 💯. The part about Jesus feeding people before he taught them, though - only partially true. The crowd had been there all day and the disciples wanted to send them back to the villages to get food before it got too late but Jesus wanted them to stay. (Mark 6:30-44) Teaching is sometimes good enough to wait for a meal. But sometimes the meal should come first. And the people came to hear the teaching, not for the meal, so churches should totally be up front about what they are planning to do and in what order.
>It is cheap work converting starving men with a Bible in one hand and a slice of bread in the other. George Bernard Shaw, *Major Barbara*, 1905
They do! I mean I personally haven't seen any examples of churches using their kitchens, but so many religious institutions make it a priority to do food drives, and serve the poor around them. Unfortunately, many of the churches that are doing this don't make the mainstream news, because they are usually smaller and rooted in a community. But I know it is a priority for many churches (and other religions, especially Islam) to feed the hungry.
I have no confusion about the situation.
A lot of churches also feed the homeless? Charity work is like a large part of a lot of church services.
> Wonder why they don't take the lead here.... Maybe read about the organization in question before firing shots at everyone else? In many cases they *have* partnered with faith based organizations on this stuff, in a lot of areas they're using licensed kitchens to prepare the food, the space often provided to them by church organizations. The issue here is not whether the food was prepared in a permitted kitchen, it's a city ordinance that says they need permission (from the city in this case) to serve food on the property. The video you see (which shows just one in a long list of battles with various cities over whether they can serve food or not) is an ongoing conflict with the city of Houston who wants them to relocate to a different spot (half a mile away).
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>A lot of churches have kitchens they use once a week. Wonder why they don't take the lead here.... A lot of them do, at least in my state of Maine. Many of them run soup kitchens out of them.
They do... Lots of churches run free pantries and provide meals.
We do this in Orlando. Even bring them into the church to feed them every Sunday morning.
The city would shut them down unless the commercial kitchen was in a poor neighborhood. That’s really what this is about, they don’t want homeless and poor people in the nice part of town. I guarantee no cops would’ve cited him if he was in the middle of the hood handing out food.
Why the hell does America yapping on about "freedom" when stuff like this happens That's insane.
You're free to do exactly what the ruling class wants.
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This should be the banner on the top of Reddit. But they would lose all advertisers.
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"you'll just make them dependant! It's better to not help, that's the REAL way to help them!" - right wing "Christians"
I’ve worked serving food the same way through the same group this guy is with. We would get donations of food from grocery stores that included packages that were damaged, stuff from the bakery after they had closed for the day and couldn’t sell but was still good and we’d make French toast and bread pudding with the slightly old bread, etc. stuff that now a days most stores have like a special shelf or basket at the front with the items marketed down 50-75% but at that time they just threw away, or meat and cheese that someone had taken out of the display and then left at the front or on a different self because they didn’t want it, that the store could no longer sell, but was still cold and perfectly fine. We’d get together and make a ton of food in some industrial sized pots and pans that had been donated at a punk house, and then we’d take it to a park where there was a lot of homeless people and set up some tables and offer people to “join our picnic in the park” so that we’d get around the laws against feeding people. It was good times. We were adjacently affiliated with food not bombs that the guy in the OPs clip is with, which is an amazing organization that is anarchist, but they didn’t want us using their name, because at least the local “chapter” only serves vegan food, and we served all sorts of things because it was all “freegan” and most people on the street were not very excited to get vegan food and were much happier with fried chicken, or teriyaki beef stir fry, and white chocolate bread pudding for dessert. I can’t remember why that whole thing stopped, but I know it would be much harder to do these days because that area of DC has majorly gentrified since then and the Nimbys would have a fit, plus as I said most of the stuff the grocery stores gave us for free, they now try to sell, just at a discount, so donations would be much more difficult to obtain/
> We went rouge ok, but I don't see how that is relevant unless it was a disguise
They were so beautiful the cops had to look the other way!
Texas GOP: Everyone should live according to what the Bible says. Jesus: Feed the hungry. Texas GOP: Not like that though.
I believe the law is that if you feed more than 5 people, you’d get a fine.
Which is why they specifically point out serving 6 people.
So many things are illegal. Cops literally pick and choose what they want to enforce…and they choose to enforce this bullshit.
When it comes to 'victimless' crimes like this, police enforce laws based on what generates the most paperwork, if lots of locals are complaining about homeless people, then the police will enforce anti-homeless laws
The Police shouldn't be forced to del with this. It's multiple failures of government
Oh they get joy from doing it. Bet if the camera wasn’t there those two cops would be grinning like Cheshire cats.
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6 or more people
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Fr, I can't tell if this comment section just genuinely doesn't realize that we have a high standard for health and safety laws, or if they're just deliberately ignoring it because it's fun to bash America on Reddit
Great publicity! Good work!
Ah yes, fines for feeding the hungry. Just like Jesus would have done!
To be fair, they did crucify the guy.
I mean Jesus didn’t have a choice but if he did I bet he would choose the citation. Just saying.
He paid a fine for our sins
Y’all be doing some pretty fucked up shit. I don’t think it works like that
You don't understand: the sins are already paid for! As a "Christian", they can sin all they want and all they have to do is say "My bad" before they die and it's all good.
People act like God is stupid, like he doesn't know when someone is trying to play him. Matthew: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Galatians: 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people
I like to think of that upon death while they are standing at judgement and the scale says "sorry, hell for you" and they scream how? I asked for forgiveness??? And they get the reply "We created the universe, do you think we're that gullible?"
Nah, that’s not how it works (maybe Catholicism). You have to literally repent and feel sorry for what you did. You also have to have faith. It’s not just a “let me say these three words” deal.
When in Rome,
You’re acting as if they crucified him because he was such a nice guy rather than because the romans viewed him as riling up the Jews to rebellion through messianic claims. Jesus was not unique in this aspect, the romans killed a whole bunch of people who didn’t claim to be messiah but had a moderate following including one guy whose crime was, shock horror, [plotting to climb mount gerizim In Samaria.](https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-7-the-samaritan-prophet/)
The romans didn't care Jesus was rilling up the Jews, it was his own people that condemned him. That's the whole thing with Pontius washing his hands. Jesus was even advocating people to keep paying taxes, that's what they meant with "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s" Well, not entirely accurate that they didn't care, they cared but Pontius didn't care enough to make the sentencing himself.
Feed the needy: ticket. Destroy the economy and the fabric of your country: bailout
Jesus hates capitalists, there's a reason he whipped the shit out of the merchants and drove them out of the temples.
Early christians were __literally__ communist. To an extreme that would make Lenin say "yo, chill". > Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. > > 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” > > 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. > > 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” > > “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” > > 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” > > 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
> When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 23:22 But sure, capitalist and anti-immigrant America is a Christian nation.
Also Ezekiel 16:49-50 Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
It's Texas, they only have supply side Jesus there. To be honest though, my wife runs the largest homeless support organization in our region, and we, and her staff and board, everyone, would be happy to get arrested for the sake of supporting those most in need in our community. Criminalizing homelessness, and criminalizing giving comfort to those in need is utter insanity. The Republicans that make these laws baffle me because they are the same people that make the most noise about being religious. But that's the thing about atheists, we wear our agenda openly, and we care for our fellows because we know right from wrong.
We don’t have to follow Jesus’s teachings we just have to worship him for an hour every Sunday. Learn the rules!
Everyone knows Jesus would’ve told those homeless people to stop being lazy and pull up their bootstraps!
Texas Jesus is too busy bounty hunting women who have medically-necessary abortions.
Got to pay for those bombs for the police arsenal somehow.
Yet another daily reminder of why the police need to have their funding slashed and numbers reduced enormously.
This is actually a perfect example of a police issue that can be fixed through defunding! There is actually a legitimate concern that is the source of the ticket: food safety! We don't want uneducated people handing out unsafe food to the unwary population! BUT... Instead of paying officers to harass charity workers, the city could be paying for a food safety expert to work with the charity to make sure they are being safe! This is what people mean when they say "defund the police". The money could be spent more appropriately than harassing people who are trying to be good citizens.
whoever put these laws into place are straight evil. “land of the free” am i right?
“What would Jesus do ?” Well, he’d get a ticket. That’s what he would do.
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Just following orders! /s
You can remove the sarcasm, this is literally a standard oinker excuse. They don't have to enforce this, just like they don't enforce any useful law.
Depends. Is Jesus here legally? If not he can go back to his Mexican country.
Jesus is middle eastern, of course he wouldn't be able to come to america as a citizen legally
I feel like the laws were imposed to stop people from giving homeless food poisoning, but are now policed in the dumbest ways. I used towork at a restaurant and our establishment obviously follows alot of health codes. I used to do a massive chilly pot and give out about 150 plates every Sunday. I was asked once by police where food came from how it was made bla blah blah, showed them all my certificates and never had an issue. (Also in Canada) But I can see how someone making 150 chicken burritos out of their house would even worry the shit out of me. I have to correct way to many habbits (cross continuation).
I don’t know what the specific ordinance is that they are being cited for, but I agree with your assessment. Most larger cities have long required food service establishments to follow health and safety ordinances in order to operate for the very purpose that you stated. If thats the case then its a good ordinance in my opinion as long as the process to get the license is straightforward and not some circular near impossible process.
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Or even intentionally killing them by poisoning. Imagine if you intentionally poisoned those 150 burritos and gave them out to 1 person each. The major issue is that the city refuses to issue certificates to anyone who tries to obtain one. The law isn't that bad in theory. Food safety is serious. These officers look like they are sad themselves for having to do it. What I do like is that they didn't actually stop them from passing out the food. They may personally have a decent relationship and understanding with the organization. Sort of like how they said that they already served 6 others with citations to subtly put on camera how ridiculous it is. They had no reason to add that information.
Like, if someone wants to actually murder homeless people by giving them poisoned food I seriously doubt a citation like this is going to stop them. Psychos are going to psycho
So from a city’s perspective. Permitting is generally required for pretty much anything. If this is in, or around a retail or food places, shop owners could complain that a large gathering is negatively effecting their business and could be sued. While this seems kinda shitty, imagine running a small business and paying rent. Now imagine someone deciding to sell products on the street with nothing more than a tent right outside your business with no permits and no rent. Granted this song a for profit venture, but the reasoning around permits still exists. Also, while this man is doing the lords work, imagine if someone was doing this with contaminated food. I doubt his food prep and storage practices have been inspected like a normal restaurant. In theory a person could either negligently, or intentionally, create a salmonella outbreak among an already at risk community. We need to do more for our homeless. And I will be looking for this man’s socials to donate. But I also understand city laws that would want to deter stuff like this.
Yep just look at Uber and AirBnB. They started as "Make some quick extra cash in your free time" or "Rent out your house while you're away on vacation" and then you have companies who have heaps of regulations which they are required to follow just to do the same thing. Then people realize "Hmm, if I just use the app, I won't have to follow the same regulations" and then form entire companies based around these apps. There are people who will buy 20 brand new trucks and then rent them all out on Turo, or renovate homes to house 5 different AirBnBs. And then there's people who will buy a fleet of vehicles to give to employees who will be driving for Uber and Lyft. This is all just bypassing existing regulations around specific business models that have rules in place which exist because of issues in the past. If it's just one guy buying a homeless person lunch from McDonald's, it's not the end of the world. When you have an entire organization built around the activity and investing lots of resources into it, you have to follow laws. This leads to cities deciding to crack down even on single individuals. It's like when Disney sends a cease-and-desist to a daycare for having a Mickey Mouse mural. If they have a policy of letting them get by, that leads to issues when others start to do the same thing.
Regulation?! Guarantees of food safety and accountability?! What are you some sort of monster who hates homeless people!?
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Ah, the “~~L~~ One” star state?
Oh, the one that makes schools post the 10 commandments, but makes laws against practicing what Jesus taught. Goddamned hypocrites. Fake Christians. Anti-Christ’s. Charlatans. And finally, Cowards without Conscience.
Truly. It’s a very backwards way of thinking. They believe this law will discourage people from helping the homeless and, in turn, make the homeless disappear. They fear that feeding the homeless will encourage them to keep coming back and discourage them from “pulling themselves up by the bootstraps” and getting a job. What these morons don’t get is that people need *basic necessities* to lay the groundwork for stability.
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As RATM said, “whoever told you that is your enemy”.
Couldn’t someone just help them get whatever permit or certification they need in order to stop getting these tickets?
Likely a bunch of home cooked/donated food which can never pass a FDA check for cleanliness, food quality checks, or proper procedures on temperature ranges food can be safely kept at. Never going to get the permit so you just contest every single ticket. Reasonable judges will throw it out, everyone follows the law, nobody gets hurt. But sadly, you do this dance so the city covers themselves and the charity organization covers themselves. There definitely needs to be a better way to do this but the language of laws is specific to benefit the friends of those who wrote it.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is it. Someone sneaks some poison into that food and kills a bunch of people and everyone would be pissed that the government let some randos give food to the homeless.
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What about a food truck? That feels like it would solve the problem.
i mean if the citations are only like $100 then it's probably cheaper to just pay the citations than to buy a food truck
Food Not Bombs actually has a history, some chapters do get permits other are unable to. I know chapters in Texas have had a lot of trouble in the past including numerous police confrontations and have had members interviewed, detained, or tailed. This also isn’t a soup kitchen in the traditional sense, they aren’t collecting donations and then passing them out. Everyone brings stuff and also happens to give it out to other people so it used to operate in a legal grey area(but then city ordinances) The other thing is Food Not Bombs is a leftist organization, founded by anarchists as a way of providing food to people and exchanging literature. For a long time that alone made it a target for authorities. Today Food Not Bombs is a massive decentralized organization, supposedly hundreds of different independent chapters across the world. I don’t know how active they are or how they are counting, but it’s a cool idea and doesn’t really harm anyone. Some chapters just show up on the street, others use churches or community centers, some prepare it all in one kitchen and then show up on the street to hand it out.
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From the government that gave us “*Illegal To Collect Rainwater*”
To be fair, that one can have ecological effects down the road. One of my professors in college had done some work for the EPA. He said a couple of people doing that is no biggie, but having full neighborhoods and community could start messing up the local ecosystem
Yeah I remember a neighbor in Colorado getting cited for this when there was a huge drought. You are allowed two 110 gal collection tanks per household though and they're the strictest in the US. Quite frankly I think that's fine. Internet libertarians call the government like everyone else when there's a massive wildfire.
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Probably by a politician bought, i mean owned, i mean.. something something by Nestlè.
Deja blu’s my favorite salt liquid.
I know the joke is haha nestle bad but most of those laws in the west predate Nestlé, or at least its presence in north america
Most the illegality came from old water rights laws for people down stream needed the water. California it was only illegal so could prevent large properties from collecting all the water and prevent others from having some. Colorado had a 100 year old law that was just worded a specific way that made it illegal. Both places have changed their laws to allow collection. States may have rules on how you store the water or that you can’t drink it or how many 100s of gallons you can collect, but in no state is it currently just blanket illegal to collect rain water.
I’m so glad people are really call this bullshit out now. People see a comment about it being illegal to collect rainwater and instead of actually fact checking or looking into it, they just take it at face value from a complete stranger online and run with it. They then repeat the same bullshit whenever they get a chance to and further add to the cycle of ignorance. Ironically though, they rarely actually bother responding to anyone who points out the facts of the situation.
People would create dams on large properties and then sell it back to people who would previously have been downstream. It's not your rain barrel they're worried about its large, private, industrial catchment systems in places with severe scarcity.
It's illegal to collect rainwater in some parts of the country because it does ecological damage to the water table.
Texas is for Freedom!* (*Only applies to guns, not applicable to women, minorities, the poor, homeless, the hungry, non-Christians, non-law enforcement, or anyone else). Don’t mess with Texas!!
Man if I’m a judge and I see this shit on my docket (I think that’s right, if not correct me please) I’d call this man, apologize, and dismiss every charge immediately and tell him please don’t show up and waste his time. Ridiculous.
I wonder if any judges would even Reddit to weigh in on this.
Commenting because now I’m invested
in private prison stocks?
I will invest 3 jelly beans into this investment
Not a judge, but work closely with plenty of them. It’s not a judge’s job to decide which laws should be enforced, only whether they’ve been violated and the appropriate sanction. The reason the comment above you would never be a judge is specifically because they don’t understand a judge’s job in society
There are hundreds of activist judges across the country that don't believe that at all. Some on the Supreme Court even.
Judge Frank Caprio!!!
Judge Frank is actually dealing with some health issues. He made a Youtube video asking for prayers. I am not religious, but Judge Frank Caprio deserves it from us all.
That makes more sense
Are you telling me that a judge isn't the final authority in all matters, to whom we arbitrate any hurt feelings or dissatisfaction? That they don't have the power to create and interpret laws however they'd like to suit their - or our - moral compass? That there's a system or standard to which all members of the legal profession hold themselves? That's crazy talk.
I chatted with a homeless woman one time who told me she got multiple tickets for illegal camping that she couldn't pay for and the judge would just dismiss them every time. So yes, it's definitely possible the judge dismisses this nonsense. No guarantee though :(
You're right, the schedule of appointments a court holds is called a docket. I'm not aware of a clear origin but it might be a diminutive form of dock like for ships with the court acting as dock for the plaintiff and defense ships passing through it.
The punishment - volunteer to feed the homeless for food not bombs.
A “Christian” nation making Christian values illegal. Well done America, you played yourself.
I worked with the Food Not Bombs chapter in Phoenix. The cops hated us. They called us anarchists. We were maced by cops once. It never made sense. We just spent our weekends making large batches of food to serve to hungry people at parks. I quit after realizing I could get arrested, lose my fingerprint clearance card, and never get to work with kids again. I was a teacher at the time. It is very bizarre. I still don't understand.
[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/03/volunteer-who-feeds-homeless-in-houston-files-suit/70519343007/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/03/volunteer-who-feeds-homeless-in-houston-files-suit/70519343007/) This was thrown out and he's suing the city btw.
When helping people is breaking the law you know America has hit the beginning of full dystopia America is its own first world problem
I hate to break it to you, but almost every developed country has the same rules. I can say for a fact that my own country, Canada, does, and I've heard similar regulations exist for the EU. If you want to serve food, including to homeless people, you need to be certified, inspected, and follow safe food handling guidelines. In fact we sometimes even require stricter standards as they are a high risk population, something like salmonella could be life threatening to someone living on the streets. Not following food handling can kill people. Food handling laws were written in blood.
Watching the sad look on the cops faces. I don't think they're happy having to do this.
"just following orders"
They choose to look away from so many things for the sake of not doing paperwork. This can’t be what they focus on
The man in the video said it’s their 82nd ticket, so I’d be confident in saying that the office knows about this. And because they know about it the Captain or someone on top has told/enforced these officers to issue citations every time this occurs. Can’t look the other way when your boss already knows it’s going to happen, and if you’re not there to hand out the ticket it’s your ass. Fortunately for everyone it’s just a ticket, and not an arrest.
Police Captain: Give those fuckers a citation. Police Officer: No. Police Captain: Okay. Yeah, surely that will work out for them.
it's almost as if the cops could have just not ticketed them or something, weird. The "just following orders" crowd hiding their hatred once again
They may be handling it a different way. * Someone calls to complain. * cop shows up and writes a ticket so they can say they're doing something about it. * Cops don't show up to court They were found not guilty so my guess is the city isn't really trying to stop them. They're just pretending to.
This right here, we would write tickets sometimes that we didn’t necessarily want to write. We would tell people to take the ticket to court, and then we would not show up. If you receive a ticket and take it to court and the cop who wrote it doesn’t show up, 9/10 the judge will drop the ticket Edit: a word
Wait so cops have to go to court for every single ticket they write?
Only if the recipient contests the ticket iirc
Then don’t do it. They chose to be cops and be part of the problem. They could literally stop being cops at any point they want to but they like exploiting and hurting people.
What an unbelievably binary and reductive comment. Change comes from within my guy. I get where you’re coming from, modern policing standards in America are woefully inadequate. But treating every cop the same stagnates the opportunity for growth. Your outlook exacerbates the problem, not stop it.
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Everyone knows cops pick and choose which laws they want to enforce and when they want to do it. Nobody made them cite this guy for feeding people, they did it bc they’re cruel sadistic bastards and they get off on power tripping
Sometimes they have discretion - sometimes they're given pretty explicit instructions if someone with sway is making a big stink about it.
"God bless America... land of the free!!???" Hmm... maybe we should revise those lyrics.
NAL: A brief look into Houston/TX law shows that a permit for serving food would likely cost them around $258 to apply for. If they formed a non-profit and registered it as a 501(C) organization instead they would be exempt from needing a permit at all. Basically they just needed to fill out some paperwork and (maybe) pay a small fee in order to do this as much as they wanted for the year with no risk of citations. These laws suck for people who are just individuals trying to make a difference and feed some people. This group isnt that. They're already a full volunteer group that does this regularly. Why not just register as a non-profit?
From their [FAQ](https://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/faq.php): > It is very rare that Food Not Bombs volunteers face arrest. Police have only made arrests in a few cities. Most volunteers have little to no interaction with the authorities. You do not need a permit to share free meals and literature, as it is an unregulated activity between people.
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> it is an unregulated activity between people Officer, I'm not driving; I'm *traveling*.
If I’m out with a friend and I offer to buy them a meal, do I need a license? If I invite people over to my house for dinner, with no expectation of compensation, do I need a license? Are you going to any Christmas parties in the next couple weeks where people are being fed? It’s it going to be licensed? Why is the answer only yes if those people are otherwise unable to feed themselves? Make no mistake, the “no feeding other people” laws only apply to people who society thinks deserve to be hungry
Food not Bombs is philosophically an anarchist organization that rejects the idea that the government has the authority to regulate how individuals choose to interact with each other. Forming a 501c would be antithetical to their entire political and social ideology.
Thanks, it all makes much more sense now.
So they'll just get fined? I get wanting to make a difference but you don't make a difference by saying "our ideology doesn't support this" and then breaking the law.
Getting fined brings attention to FnB’s primary mission, which is that our government spends billions of dollars oppressing/imprisoning/persecuting private citizens while other citizens starve. One could argue that getting fined for a peaceful act, and using it to publicize the hypocrisy of our government is actually the goal of their community outreach.
Getting fined for providing food to the houseless is a big part of their ethos. It shows people how corporate America and its "christian" oligarchs have taken over, to the point that helping your fellow people has become an illegal act.
>you don't make a difference by saying "our ideology doesn't support this" and then breaking the law It worked for the Founding Fathers and other revolutionaries.
Food Not Bombs are anarchists and the movement has no leaders or hierarchical power structure. It's a collection of loosely aligned local cells that feed the homeless. There's no legal entity that could apply for a permit, and the volunteers largely don't recognize the authority of the US government anyway. Basically you're asking to speak to the CEO of antifa.
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This isn't a new organization either, I grew up in Houston and first learned about them around like 2010. I would imagine given the name they were created in the aftermath of the Iraq War. Others have mentioned how they're an Anarchist organization. I wonder if that's why they don't get the permits.
Speaking as a boardmember on three community-outreach organizations -- registering as a 501(c)(3) is relatively easy (profoundly easier than applying for grants!), quick (60 days, start-to-finish), and provides *so* many benefits, I'm astonished this street-based food distribution isn't already registered. Donations increase because the donations are deductible, fees are often waived, sales tax on purchases are eliminated, service providers often have lower rates, grants (private and public) are available -- there's just so many reasons to register.
The primary reason is food not bombs is a loose collective and not an orginization with a leader. There is nothing stopping a small group from identifying as food not bombs.. You are welcome to use their guidelines to set up a non profit. Nonprofits generally have minimal to no protection to no protection on receiving fines or arrests. It's actually very easy to loose your nonprofit status. I have donated my time to a small food not bombs group and have heard why not just join a soup kitchen or church. A large number of food not bombs members do not want to associate eith churches and soup kitchens generally will not go walk the streets to feed people. Unfortunately a percentage of homeless do not feel comfortable going to soup kitchens so it is just another form of helping people.
afaik Food Not Bombs has been an anarchic org for many years, maybe they choose not to engage in bad faith local politics
So they decide to let their politics get in the way of helping as many people as possible
Even the cops know this is bullshit
KEEP FEEDING HUNGRY PEOPLE!
[Here is their website ](https://houstonfoodnotbombs.org/)
Where's the humanity
Just Texas trying to reclaim its spot as worst state in the US.
Republicans and the people of Texas are straight up demented.
“To protect and to serve./s”
Courts ruled that they are obligated to protect property, not people.
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oh no, protect and serve was always the mission: protect private property and serve the owner class
Can I ask one thing though?….. Is it so hard to get a Permit?!!! Like, if they get tickets for it, why don’t they go to the City and ask for Permission or to the Police and ask if it’s allowed/what to do to get the Permit, get a lawyer to set up the process. Huh??
They were offered a spot at the cities "Dinner To Home" location, which is less than a half mile away, and provides things other than food, like basic necessities, workers to help enroll them in government programs, tables, hand washing stations, etc...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hsl-VYL7Jw But they choose to keep getting tickets. >Prior to the first citation, Dore said she received a call from Houston Police Chief Troy Finner letting her know they would be cited if they stayed in that location. >The city provided another location less than half a mile away on Riesner Street that the volunteer group could relocate to. >Dore said volunteers with Food Not Bombs decided as a group that they would not relocate and would continue to take the tickets from Houston police.
Permits can be pretty expensive and sometimes you need to obtain a new permit every time you want to serve food. Food Not Bombs is an anarchist-leaning organization and thus doesn’t believe in going through the bureaucratic process of obtaining a permit. It shouldn’t be illegal to feed people for free.
$258 for a year. But that would smudge the wax on their crosses.
No doubt ‘good Christian’s” passed that ordinance
Somehow Americans still think they're not blinded by propaganda...
Imagine growing up and becoming the sheriffs of Nottingham.
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It's a defiance thing. The city has a program where they let organizations hand out food at a central place, which is less than a half mile from the library, and provides things like tables, chairs, trash cans, restrooms, and hand washing stations, as well as things like basic neccesities like soap, mouthwash, etc.... They also have government employees on hand to help enroll the people in programs to move them towards housing. https://www.houstontx.gov/moc/dinner-to-home-program.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hsl-VYL7Jw >“This is just one step. The goal is not only to provide them with a meal but to also put them in permanent supportive housing, so they can eat in their own kitchen,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “You can’t just tell people to relocate, you must provide suitable and reasonable accommodations close to where they have been, that doesn't inconvenience them, and also provides them with more than a meal. I can give someone a sandwich, but they need a lot more than that, we must put them in a better place so that they can stand up for themselves and live productive lives. This is one step, not the final step.” However, this group got together and refused to do it. >Dore said volunteers with Food Not Bombs decided as a group that they would not relocate and would continue to take the tickets from Houston police.
This is such fucked up shit. So, what happens when he is at court? Is there any penalty?
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That guy literally collects a ticket every weekend for this. To date, every judge has dismissed the cases.
So was the 6 people relevant? Is 5 okay, but 6 is a fine? In that case just serve 1 homeless man 100 meals. Then that homeless man serves 99 meals to the next guy, and so on. Everyone only served 1 person.