 Orlando Food Not
Bombs shares food and literature |  Venice Food Not Bombs volunteer arrested
while filming Food Not Bombs on the Venice
Boardwalk |
WE LOVE OUR
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14,
2011
The First
Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution "Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Section of the Constitution read by Representative Gabrielle Gifford on
the floor of the U.S. Congress Thursday January 6, 2011 two days before
she was shot in Tucson, Arizona
FOOD NOT BOMBS DEFENDS IT'S RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia will hear the Orlando Food
Bombs First Amendment case the week of February 14, 2011.
"There has to be some kind of (police) action. At this point its seems
to be a political statement on their (Food Not Bombs) part not a food
give away issue." San Francisco Police Public Relations Officer Jerry
Senkir on the reason for the 1988 arrests of Food Not Bombs volunteers
People's right to peaceful protest in the United States is under
serious threat. Food Not Bombs volunteers have been struggling to defend
their right to free expression since 1988 when police first started
making arrests of those sharing food with the hungry in San Francisco.
City officials made it clear the problem was not that volunteers were
sharing food but that the message groups message was not allowed and
that they could feed the hungry if they would take their meals inside
out of view of the public. Authorities in St. Petersburg and Orlando
Florida and Rapid City, South Dakota are currently resisting efforts to
silence them.
On the week of February 14th the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Atlanta, Georgia will hear the Orlando Food Bombs First Amendment case
stemming from the April 4, 2007 arrest of Food Not Bombs volunteer
Eric Montanez in the cities effort to silence the groups message.
Activists in Russian have been holding protests on the 31st of each
month calling on the government to respect Russia's right to Free Speech
under their constitution's Article 31. Many activists including Food
Not Bombs are also struggling to protect their right to Free Speech in
the United States. Americans could organize "Strategy 1" protesting on
the first of each month in support of the right to free expression under
the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
There is a proposal asking all Food Not Bombs groups to share free vegan
meals outside local Federal Buildings, U.S. military Bases or U.S.
Embassies on Valentines Day, February, 14, 2011. We might also want to
start organizing Strategy 1 Actions that day after the Strategy 31
Actions in Russia.
"They don't want to feed the hungry they just want to make an anarchist
type statement and we aren't going to allow it." San Francisco Police
Captan Dennis Martel on the 1989 arrests of Food Not Bombs
STATEMENT OF FEDERAL JUDGE BARKET IN SUPPORT OF FOOD NOT BOMBS
In the dissent, Judge Barkett contested that the group's activities are
expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. The members of
Orlando Food Not Bombs ("Food Not Bombs") began conducting weekly
demonstrations in 2005 at a public park located in the heart of downtown
Orlando in order to draw attention to society's failure to provide food
to all and express their opposition to war. They did so by displaying
signs and wearing buttons and t-shirts with the Food Not Bombs' logo and
anti-war messages while simultaneously distributing free food to hungry
and homeless persons. Under well-established Supreme Court precedent,
Food Not Bombs has readily demonstrated that this conduct constitutes
expressive conduct entitled to First Amendment protection and,
therefore, I dissent.
More details on efforts to silence Food Not Bombs in the United States
FULL RULLING District court ruling - MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
First ruling of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals - Atlanta
RUSSIAN PROTESTS STRATEGY 31 (RUSSIANS PROTEST FOR THE RIGHT TO FREE
EXPRESSION)
Activists have organized the Strategy 31 campaign for the right to
peaceful protest in Russia holding protests on the 31st of each month in
support of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution. Article 31 is
Russia's version of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The
article below shows that Russian authorities use the same tactics to
silence peace full protest in their country as are used by officials in
the United States to suppress protest.
Strategy 31 campaigns for the right to peaceful protest in Russia
Strategy 31 campaign for the right to
peaceful protest in Russia
Russian police detain 130 in anti-government protests
Article 31 Protest at Russian Embassy in London
Food Not Bombs could organize acions like this on February 14th outside the U.S. Embassy in each country.
orlandoweekly.com/news/happytown
PRINT OUT A SAMPLE
FLYER TO ANNOUNCE YOUR LOCAL ACTION
Please email us the
details of your local action to menu@foodnotbombs.net -
thanks
Saint Petersburg Food Not Bombs among groups targeted for arrest for
feeding the hungry
Rapid City Food Not Bombs told
to move to less visible location.
Organizations at odds over free meals to
homeless
THE STORY OF EFFORTS TO STOP FOOD NOT BOMBS IN
THE UNITED STATES
Great news: the Eleventh Circuit has VACATED its July opinion in favor
of the City of Orlando and granted rehearing en banc.
Homeless advocates win new
hearing in Lake Eola park-feeding case
Jackie Dowd of Legal Advocacy at Work in an exclusive interview
discusses the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals making the rare judicial
move of throwing out the earlier decision of their own 3 judge panel
overturning the victory of Food Not Bombs vs the City of Orlando's
Group Feeding Ordinance and granting a new hearing in front of the
entire panel of judges.
THE ORDER TO VACATE
11th
Circuit to Reconsider Homeless Feeding Permits
A ruling from the 11th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals bars the city from enforcing a 4-year-old
ordinance that regulates group feedings in public parks. Read Ruling
Against Food Not Bombs Right To Free Expression that was vacated.(Click for
pdf of ruling)
RICHMOND
FOOD NOT BOMBS - Resist attempts at pushing homeless out of Monroe
Park!
This is in response to the recently unnveiled
plans for renovations of Monroe Park in Richmond, Virginia, as well as
comments about the park from Charles R. Samuels who is the City
Councilman for the 2nd district where Monroe Park is located. This is
written by a longtime member of the Richmond Food Not Bombs
organization, which has been serving a weekly meal in the park for over
16 years.
Resist attempts at pushing
homeless out of Monroe Park!
Group decries plans to gentrify Monroe Park
There have been many attempts to shut down local Food Not Bombs
groups by claiming they need a permit to share free meals and that
volunteers need to cook in a licensed facility. After first arresting
San Francisco Food Not Bombs on August 15, 1988 because they were
"making a political statement and that's not allowed" the
city started claiming that the group needed a permit from the parks
department and when that didn't work they told the public that Food
Not Bombs needed a Health Permit. Even though California state law
clearly stated that no one was required to have this permit unless they
were selling or making money from distributing the food the police made
over 1,000 arrests. San Francisco Food Not Bombs is not only still
sharing free meals but the arrests inspired people all over the world to
start their own Food Not Bombs groups. Each time a government threatens
to stop a local Food Not Bombs group their actions cause the creation of
new chapters. State officials in Arizona, Florida, California, Nevada,
Massachusetts and Connecticut have also tried to stop Food Not Bombs in
the past couple of years. You can support Ann Arbor Food Not Bombs.
Share food with them or organize an action in solidarity with their
right to share free food and literature in protest to hunger, poverty
and war. Please return to this page to find out additional ways of
supporting Ann Arbor Food Not Bombs.
ORLANDO FOOD NOT BOMBS TO DEFY FEDRAL COURT RULING
The 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling Against Food Not Bombs Right To Free
Expression.
"We
accept that Orlando Food Not Bombs had the requisite expressive intent,
but we believe that the feedings in this case present at most an
ambiguous situation to an objective reasonable observer...Just feeding
people in the park is conduct too ambiguous to allow us to conclude that
a great likelihood exists that an objective reasonable observer would
understand that the feeders are trying to convey a message.
"
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judges
Edmondson, Barkett, and Baldock - July 6, 2010
Orlando, FL: Do NOT Feed the Homeless or Else...
Group Feeds
Homeless In Protest - WESH tv
Orlando Food Not Bombs defies federal judge's ruling, continues to
feed homeless
A
STATEMENT FROM ORLANDO FOOD NOT BOMBS
Issued July 14,
2010
Orlando Food Not Bombs is not going anywhere. We will not
slink out of Orlando because a court ruling goes against us. Some accuse
us of being "outside agitators" with a covert agenda, but we
freely admit that our purposes are both humanitarian and political. Many
of us live here, and it is our city, too. We will continue to share food
at a location in or near downtown Orlando twice a week, as we have for
more than five years. We do this because thousands of hungry people
desperately need the food that we provide and because we truly believe
that food is a right--not a privilege. The City of Orlando, from
Mayor "Buddy" Dyer on down, has provided ample evidence that it
believes that food and human survival are mere privileges. They have
repeatedly criminalized homelessness and dehumanized the poor and the
homeless. Some of their more outrageous actions have included creating
an undercover Orlando police unit to nab panhandlers and arresting an
FNB member for the heinous crime of ladling out stew too many times
(this involved 15 police officers!). We would love to know how many of
our hard-earned tax dollars Dyer and his minions have squandered
harassing the hungry, and opposing those who provide them with aid
(without using one penny of public money).
Orlando Food Not Bombs
can not and will not stand down and allow an apartheid-like system of
injustice based upon socio-economic status to go unchallenged. The court
ruling was only part of one battle; our struggle for a freer, more
equitable and compassionate society continues. We have partnered with
other groups and individuals to organize and advocate in our community
around issues such as poverty, jobs, support for the rights of workers
and immigrants, gentrification, affordable housing, social services, and
police accountability.
We will hold local public officials
accountable for how their decisions affect everyone--not just corporate
and business interests and wealthy campaign donors. We will demand that
they recognize that the greatness of a city is not measured by how much
it can lavish on arenas and performing arts centers, but by how it
treats the least among us. We will make the powerful listen and we will
make them act.
In closing, we would like to express our heartfelt
thanks to our lawyer, Jacqueline Dowd. It is only due to Jackie's
tireless efforts on our behalf that we have been able to share food at
Lake Eola Park these last four years despite the City's
anti-homeless food sharing ordinance. We esteem Jackie for her
commitment to this cause and to the people with whom we share and to
everyone in our community who is disadvantaged.
orlandofnb@
orlandofoodnotbombs.org
MORE ABOUT THE ORLANDO FOOD NOT BOMBS
CASE
Two days after America celebrated
Independence Day the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta found
that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not
protect Food Not Bombs and The First Vagabonds Church of God's right
to free expression. The Eleventh Circuit Court judgement against Food
Not Bombs joins the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and the
Federal Fifth Circuit ruling against the six-month moratorium on
deepwater drilling in showing a disregard for the public good on behalf
of corporate greed. Eric Montanez, one of the Orlando Food Not Bombs
volunteers arrested two years ago, helped carry on the group's regular
Wednesday night feeding at Lake Eola Park as scheduled and pledged to
continue doing so regardless of what happens.
'The city is
criminalizing homelessness and poverty and criminalizing individuals and
organizations in the community that are trying to address those
problems,' Montanez said.
Orlando City Attorney Mayanne
Downs said at a news conference earlier Wednesday that enforcement
won't begin for at least 20 days- the amount of time that Orlando
Food Not Bombs and other homeless activists who sued the city over the
rules have to go back to court. The ordinance requires anyone hosting a
"large group feeding" in the downtown district to first get a
permit. Each individual or group is limited to two permits annually per
district park.
Food Not Bombs is not "Just feeding people in the
park" but is seeking to express in the most effective means possible
that America should redirect it's resources from military spending
towards food, housing, education, healthcare and other basic needs.
Providing free food to the hungry in the most visible location possible
under the banner Food Not Bombs is the most effective means of
expressing this message. The court ruling will not stop Food Not Bombs
from continuing to provide free meals in protest to war and poverty.
Federal court censorship of Food Not Bombs at this point in history is
particularly disturbing considering that U.S. military spending and
homeless and hunger are all at record levels. It is more important then
ever for the message of Food Not Bombs to have as much impact as
possible on American taxpayers by sharing free meals with the hungry
under the banner Food Not Bombs in the most visible locations possible.
U.S. taxpayers were asked to pay at least $663.8 billion this year for
their military as 40 million Americans require Food Stamps, millions of
people are waiting for unemployment checks and A record 3 million homes
received foreclosure notices in 2009.
Orlando Food Not Bombs can
expect world wide support if threatened again with arrest. Volunteers
from all over the United States are likely to travel to Orlando to risk
arrest. Food Not Bombs has an eastern United States Gathering planned
for November in Washington D.C. where the subject of coordinated global
actions will be discussed. Orlando Food Not Bombs will ask full appeals
court to rehear the case.
Requiring
permits to feed homeless in parks upheld
Orlando Can
Restrict Homeless Feedings
Orlando
Can Restrict Homeless Feedings
Appeals court sides with Orlando on food ban
Orlando group defies federal judge's ruling, continues to feed
homeless
Homeless advocates decry court ruling restricting
feedings in parks
MORE U.S. CITIES ATTACK FOOD NOT
BOMBS
Fight over homeless feeding site
heats up in Fort Lauderdale
Ordinance Would Regulate Feeding Miam's Homeless
Miami Florida considers
anti-homeless feeding law
Diablo Food
Not Bombs Succeeds in Feeding the Hungry!
Good People Break Bad Laws
State officials tried to stop Food Not Bombs in New
Mexico. New Mexico is ranked as "America's Hungriest State"
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with near 17 percent of our people
going without food each month. New Mexico is not the only state trying
to stop Food Not Bombs. State officials in Arizona, Florida, California,
Nevada, Massachusetts and Connecticut have also tried to stop Food Not
Bombs in the past couple of years. Arizona Food Not Bombs groups in
Flagstaff and Prescott were told they could continue if they
"didn't publicize" our meal. The city has been telling
Flagstaff Food Not Bombs to move, stop and threatening arrest for
several months. Middletown Food Not Bombs has been trying to work with
the city but local officials started ticketing and arresting volunteers
in late April. Both the States of New Mexico and Connecticut ordered
all chapters to stop in letter they sent to the Food Not Bombs office
in Taos, New Mexico. Connecticut finally created a new law that lets
everyone share meals with the hungry. Sharing free meals and literature
in an unregulated activity like all other offers of help. Food Not Bombs
has been sharing free vegetarian meals since 1980 and is providing free
meals and literature in over 1,000 cities around the world. Not one
person has reported being made ill by eating our vegetarian meals. As
would be expected the food is shared in the three hour period determined
safe by all state laws. Several cities have tried to stop Food Not
Bombs. San Francisco spend ten years and thousands of dollars arresting
and beating volunteers. The group still shares meals nearly every day in
San Francisco, California. Orlando Food Not Bombs was arrested but
found innocent and the city was ordered to pay $200,000 to our lawyers.
The city of West Palm Beach was ordered to pay our lawyers $100,000
after trying to restrict our efforts. So far the United States is the
only country that has tried to stop Food Not Bombs from sharing meals
with the hungry. Police did arrest the Utrecht Netherlands chapter but
gave a formal apology.
Food Not Bombs has also been listed as a
domestic terrorist group in the United States. Federal agents have a
national campaign of infiltration and disruption of local Food Not Bombs
groups. The U.S. government has framed nearly 20 volunteers on charges
of terrorism. Many are in prison today. For more details about the U.S.
governments national campaign against Food Not Bombs VISIT www.foodnotbombs.net/spy.html
We are
urging a global day of action is solidarity of all groups under threat
by government officials. Our eight cooks are also facing long prision
sentences in the RNC 8 case. Their trial
is set for this summer. If you live near any chapter facing repression
please attend their next meal and consider risking arrest. Defense of
our right to share meals without government interference could not be a
more important right to protect as the global economy fails and millions
are going hungry.
Permits can be a big problem as we saw in San
Francisco where the city deleted the permit process as a way of
justifying their arrests after the government was pressured by corporate
leaders to drive us from public. We divided our meals into thirds in
San Francisco so that the police would steal the first amount and arrest
the servers then return to take another share of our meal and a few more
volunteers but after that they never took our third attempt and that way
everyone was fed. We felt that if we gave in this would give future
governments the idea that they could require permits and that when ever
a government thought they needed to restrict our work they could point
to the permits as justification.
Food permit laws are designed
to regulate the distribution of meals where there is an economic
incentive to cut corners in the preparation or serving of meals. Food
Not Bombs is an all volunteer project sharing free vegetarian meals and
literature in protest to war and poverty. Efforts to stop Food Not Bombs
is based on political considerations and has nothing to do with food
safety as no one has ever reported being made ill in the nearly thirty
years we have provided meals to the hungry.
EMAIL FROM ALBUQUERQUE FOOD NOT BOMBS
Hey Friends and Supporters, On Friday, May 8, 2009, Food Not Bombs
Albuquerque was notified that we are facing an injunction in court to
stop sharing food anywhere that the state of New Mexico requires a
permit. The motion filed by the New Mexico Environment Department cites
Mike Butler, Patrick Jaite, and Several Unidentified Members of FNB as
"John Does", as defendents. We are currently going to be talking
with lawyers and figuring out what our next step is. We are still
looking for any lawyer that will do pro-bono work to defend us. (our
contact info will be below).Please spread the word about the repression
that is happening and know that we will continue to share food to all
that are hungry. Sincerely, Food Not Bombs Albuquerque fnb_505@yahoo.com
and leave a message for us @ (505) 842-5697
LEGAL DOCUMENTS ORDERING FOOD NOT
BOMBS TO STOP SHARING MEALS IN NEW MEXICO
Food Not
Bombs meal cut short by cops
Middletown Group Issued Summons For
Violation
Dozens Enjoy Middletown Food Not
Bombs Meal, Police Issue 2 Tickets
Middletown Police Ticket Food Not Bombs
City Hall urges Food Not Bombs to obtain permit
In Orlando, a federal judge has ruled that sharing
food with hungry and homeless people in public spaces is protected First
Amendment activity.
You can read the court's
decision here: Federal
Court Order Protecting Our Rights
Meal program for homeless faces
ban
Arrest is first
under homeless-feeding law/ Orlando Sentinel
One day after Las Vegas officials close Huntridge Circle
Park, four people jailed
Civic Center and
Houston Food Not Bombs was told they would be arrested if they
didn't stop feeding the hungry.
Food
Not Bombs
P.O. Box 424, Arroyo Seco, NM 87514 USA
575-770-3377
1-800-884-1136
menu@foodnotbombs.net
www.foodnotbombs.net
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