Church Homeless Shelter Housing Code Trial Will Begin In Florida

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel this morning reports that a jury trial is scheduled to begin July 31 in Palm Beach County, Florida's efforts to collect $30,000 in code enforcement fines from Westgate Tabernacle Church. However the Church has filed its own counter-suit claiming infringement of its free exercise rights. Westgate runs a homeless shelter that, unlike other county agencies, takes almost anyone as a resident, subject to only a few rules-- no drugs, look for work and attend services. Because of this, police bring people to the shelter every day, at the same time that the county is attempting to get it to relocate outside a residential neighborhood.