While homelessness is increasing for the first time since the end of the Great Recession, local and state governments are jumping into action by … cracking down on charity. Six percent of American cities already ban sharing food with the homeless in public spaces, but the number of cities with burdensome regulations designed to prevent food sharing may be even higher.
The newest story comes courtesy of the Kansas City Health Department, which poured bleach on food cooked for the homeless by the charitable group, Free Hot Soup KC. Not only did the department do so for the insane reason that the group didn’t have a permit, but they organized and entire sting operation to do it.
While absurd, stories like these aren’t anomalies. Earlier this year, Chicago police forced a man to stop opening his home to homeless people during the coldest months of winter because his home didn’t meet legal “sleeping regulations.” (I’m sure a park bench in -12 degree weather plus windchill did, though.) Cops in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., cited a 90 year-old World War II veteran twice for feeding the homeless in public parks. Birmingham, Ala., police stopped a church group from their weekly food sharing with the homeless because the group lacked a permit and a food truck. A Myrtle Beach, S.C., volunteer actually took a city ban on food sharing with the homeless to court.
New York City went as far to ban private food donations to legitimate homeless shelters because officials have no way of knowing if the meals meet former Mayor Bloomberg’s draconian nutritional standards. After all, better no cholesterol than high cholesterol!
Sure, cracking down on obviously nefarious actors who, say, abuse the homeless or tempt them with drugs or alcohol is good. But in none of these cases were there a whiff of impropriety. Attacking private citizens’ ability to be charitable out of concern for the most negligible risks is not only anti-American but ridiculous and cruel. But if the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, I can’t even fathom where such awful ones lead.
