A nonprofit is suing the city of Dayton over what it says are unlawful local restrictions on food distribution.
Dayton law requires a permit in order to distribute food to the public. Permits require a $50 fee per event with a $250 security deposit.
Nourish Our Neighbors filed the lawsuit after an incident in early April, when one of their volunteers was arrested for handing out food to homeless people at Courthouse Square.
"Dayton started ramping up its enforcement of its permit requirement, and it actually put one of the group's volunteers in handcuffs for simply handing a homeless man a burrito," said Anastasia Boden, a senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the charity for free. "And so this permit requirement, which says you cannot share food, you cannot share clothing or hygiene products without a permit, is basically making it impossible for this group to help the community out."
The city of Dayton declined requests to comment on the lawsuit.
Nourish Our Neighbors said the fee would undercut its ability to serve those most in need.
"There's no good reason here for this permit requirement. It's not doing anything. It's not keeping the streets clean. It's not making sure the food is safe," Boden said. "The way it's designed is simply to basically extort these groups for money and essentially keep them from doing what they want to do."
Boden said these restrictions violate the first amendment.
“When Nourish Our Neighbors engages in food sharing, that's not just an act, it's actually speech," she said. "It's expressive speech because through this food sharing, handing out clothing, part of that mission is sort of demonstrating against society's and government's treatment of homeless people.”
In addition to the first amendment, Boden claimed that the 14th Amendment is also being violated by the city's current laws.
“We have an incredible legacy of charity in this country. And we think that makes charity a fundamental right. And the government can't take that away without good reason," she said.
Boden said if the intent of the city’s regulation is to prevent trash and litter, there are other laws already address this issue.
"The permit requirement doesn't have anything to do with these things. It doesn't regulate trash or littering," she said. "And there are all sorts of nuisance laws and littering laws and things like that that are already on the books at the state can enforce. The law doesn't have anything to do with food safety."
The city did not respond to the lawsuit yet, Boden said, but she is hopeful that they will hear back within the next month.
"I will say that since we filed the lawsuit, Nourish Our Neighbors has gone out for their once-a-month feeding, and they did encounter law enforcement, which I find a little bit perplexing," she said. "The city has ramped up its enforcement. As I said, this group has been doing these things informally for about three years. But it was only in April when all of a sudden one of their members was arrested."
