Joan Cheever was fined $2,000 dollars for feeding the homeless in San Antonio, Texas last Tuesday.
She has been driving her truck into Maverick Park (and to at least four other locations) every Tuesday for the last 10 years to feed the homeless, but this time police showed up to write her a hefty fine.
Ms. Cheever told the police that she does, indeed, have a permit, according to Texas Public Radio, and that they are a licensed non-profit food truck. She also mentioned to them that she is a certified chef and licensed food handler and that the food was transported in commercial-grade catering equipment.
Joan happens to run a non-profit called "The Chow Train."
Her food truck license was expired, and she was issued the citation even though she prepared the meals elsewhere, in compliance with health codes.
"This comes up and I tell you guys and the mayor I have a legal right to do this," Cheever told the officer.
“Legal right based on what,?” the officer asked.
She told the officers that they were burdening her free exercise of religion under RFRA, (The Religious Freedom Restoration Act) but the officers weren't buying it - though, they did let her finish feeding everyone in line.
"One of the police officers said, 'Ma'am if you want to pray, go to church,'" Cheever told the local NBC affiliate last week. "And I said, 'This is how I pray, when I cook this food and deliver it to the people who are less fortunate.'"
A city spokeswoman, Thea Setterbo, told Huffington Post the citation was for failing to adhere to long-standing regulations that are in place to ensure public health and safety. Ms. Setterbo also said that the police are working with Human Services to "encourage people to do their charity at a homeless shelter.”
Two cities in Florida made headlines relatively recently for punishing those who dare to feed the homeless. In Daytona, Florida police fined a religious couple for feeding more than a hundred homeless in a public park and in Ft. Lauderdale, police arrested a 90 year old pastor two separate times for the same homeless-feeding violation.
The National Coalition for the Homeless cites 21 cities have had laws passed in the last two years that restrict feeding homeless people, and says ten more are planning on making similar laws.
This upcoming June 23rd, Cheever's case goes to court and may prove to be an important ruling regarding religious freedom and overly-burdensome regulation.
In 2013, a federal court in Texas ruled against a Dallas ordinance that restricted feeding the homeless. Judge Jorge Solis wrote that "the homeless feeders are religiously motivated institutions that are afforded statutory protection to practice their religions without being substantially burdened by government regulation."
Ms. Cheever has not been deterred by this citation because, the following Tuesday at Maverick Park, she was at it again.
