Orlando's ordinance
was the stupid law of the week
I missed this column when it was first published a couple of weeks ago, but it's still worth mentioning.
The Washington Post gave the Stupid Law of the Week Award to the cities of Las Vegas and Orlando, both of which have sought to restrict or outright ban people from feeding the homeless in their parks.
"I am writing about these ordinances now because they are so blatantly unconstitutional, not to mention stupid and unenforceable, that they won't last long on the books," wrote Andrew Cohen in his column, Bench Conference. "But of course they will cost both of those cities plenty of time, energy and money defending the effort in court from the litigation that is sure to follow."
Read the column here.
Thanks for the link to Dollar Philantrophy, which selected the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida as its non-profit of the week, saying the Coalition provides a continuum of services for homeless individuals and families in Orlando and is well poised to develop a plan to cope with this new obstacle.
As for the stats on its current good works: In 2005, the Coalition provided 360,000 meals and 240,000 nights of shelter, as well as an array of rehabilitation and reintegration services that help people and families get back on their feet.
posted by Jacqueline Dowd @ 10:45 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the link-love. As Mr. Cohen's remarks indicate, unfortunately there will be a lot of money and time spent on changing this ordinance-- by the government and advocacy groups alike. My only thought: wow! what a waste of resources. I think that money and time could be better used.
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