A Fort Lauderdale activist is suing the city, saying it violated his religious rights by banning him from feeding homeless people in picnic areas and along the beach. Arnold Abbott, founder of Love Thy Neighbor Fund, says he is his ``brother's keeper'' and providing food to the homeless is his way of practicing his religion. But doing so is difficult because the city bans feeding people in parks and on the beach, the suit says.
By LISA ARTHUR
Herald Staff Writer
April 14, 1999
A Fort Lauderdale activist is suing the city, saying it violated his religious rights by banning him from feeding homeless people in picnic areas and along the beach.
Arnold Abbott, founder of Love Thy Neighbor Fund, says he is his ``brother's keeper'' and providing food to the homeless is his way of practicing his religion. But doing so is difficult because the city bans feeding people in parks and on the beach, the suit says.
``Not only that, but he is also being denied his right to freely associate with the homeless in a public place,'' said John Dave, Abbott's attorney.
Abbott could not be reached for comment. He filed the suit last month in Broward Circuit Court.
Neither Mayor Jim Naugle nor City Manager Floyd Johnson could be reached for comment. The city attorney did not return a call from The Herald.
Abbott regularly fed the homeless at Tent City in Fort Lauderdale. The encampment closed earlier this year when the Broward Homeless Assistance Center opened on Sunrise Boulevard.
Abbott sought a permit before Tent City was closed to feed the homeless on the beach. The request was tabled for a year. It was recently denied and Abbott was told he would be arrested if he continued to feed the homeless and the working poor.
The feedings, city officials say, violate a law banning social service agencies from providing services in an open-air environment. Abbott would have to move his feeding program indoors, they said.