City criminalizes helping the homeless

Add Oakland Park, Florida, to the list of twilight towns.

A new right-wing city ordinance likely to pass soon will make it a crime just to help the homeless.

Anybody who gives food, blankets, money, or anything else of value to a homeless person faces a fine of up to $100 and up to 90 days in jail. So does anybody who buys anything from a homeless person such as newspapers or flowers.

How fascist.

If I want to give a snack to a homeless person, that's my right. Whiners on city council have no business telling me I can't.

Make no mistake: This legislation is driven by evil. Civilized societies do not imprison people for helping the disadvantaged - unless there's a deep undercurrent of bad intentions behind the law.

We have a duty not just to criticize the law but to call it what it is: evil.

(Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-florida-panhandling12-2010apr12,0,3730999.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation+%28L.A.+Times+-+National+News%29)