The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia will hear the Orlando Food Bombs case the week of February 14, 2011. On April 4, 2007 Food Not Bombs volunteer Eric Montanez was arrested under a new Orlando law designed to hid the homeless from view. Many cities in the United States are adopting policies to hide the crisis of poverty instead of seeking solutions. Along with passing anti-homeless laws officials have been trying to drive Food Not Bombs groups out of sight in cities all across the United States. Volunteers have been arrested, beaten, had their banners and literature discarded and a number of volunteers remain in prison. Police have also told Food Not Bombs groups that they can feed the hungry as long as volunteers don't hand out literature and display banners, arguing that our message is not protected Free Speech by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The fact that there is so much poverty in a country that spends half its federal budget on the military is an issue leaders in the United States would like to silence. Hiding our homeless friends and family members isn't a solution. Defend the right to freedom of expression and free speech in the United States!

Just ask the homeless! We're now well into the fifth year of the City of Orlando vs. Food Not Bombs saga, and it isn't getting any less interesting.

Happytown learned that Food Not Bombs, an activist group that feeds the homeless twice a week at Lake Eola Park will be granted a re-hearing of its lawsuit against the city in federal appeals court in Atlanta, scheduled for the week of Feb. 14, 2011. Police arrested one more volunteer in Orlando on December 15th.