In First Vagabonds Church of God v. City of Orlando, (MD FL, Sept. 26, 2008), a Florida federal district court found that Orlando's Large Group Feeding Ordinance violates the speech rights of an activist group that feeds the poor and infringes the free exercise rights of a church that holds Sunday services, including the sharing of food, in a downtown city park. The Ordinance requires a permit to feed more than 25 people in any downtown park, and limits a group to two permits per park in a 12 month period. The court held that the activist group, Orlando Food Not Bombs, was engaged in expressive conduct and that the Ordinance prevents OFNB "from communicating its Constitutionally protected speech at a meaningful location which, from time immemorial, has been the traditional public forum for free speech."
Moving to the free exercise claim, while the court had previously held that the Ordinance did not substantially burden First Vagabond Church of God's exercise of religion under Florida's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (see prior posting), it now held that nevertheless it does violate the church's First Amendment free exercise rights. The court concluded that the city has no rational basis for the Ordinance. It found that "none of the legitimate government interests proffered by the City are served by this Ordinance." Friday's Orlando Sentinel reported on the decision, describing the plaintiffs as "a motley group of activists who have been feeding the homeless."
