Court Decision Paves Way for Enforcement of Feeding Law

By Oliver Lukacs
Staff Writer

Sept. 12 -- In a decision described by City officials as a “complete victory,” a federal judge on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of the City’s controversial laws regulating food distribution to the homeless, setting the stage for enforcement to begin next week.

The one-year-old law requires food distributors to obtain permits, which are restricted to three per group or individual, from the City and County every 90 days, with an events permit needed for gatherings of more than 150 people. Violators face a maximum penalty of six months in jail or $1,000 in fines, or both.

In his ruling, Judge Manuel Real rejected all claims made by the National Lawyers Guild that the ordinance approved by the council last October is unconstitutional. The guild --which defeated a similar law on the same grounds a decade ago -- is appealing the decision.

Deputy City Attorney Anthony Seritella characterized the decision as a "complete victory" for the City in the trial court.

The ruling also upholds the City's Community Events Law, including the requirement that a City permit be obtained for any event involving more than 150 people, as well as the City's laws regulating banners hung over city streets.

Police Chief James T. Butts, Jr. has said that Police Department personnel will begin enforcing the Community Events Law, and County of Los Angeles officials have indicated that they will resume their efforts to enforce the health standards-based law, an action that was deferred during the trial.

The ordinance targets roughly 30 food providers serving sometimes as many as 300 people by requiring a permit from the Los Angeles Department of Health and approval of a feeding site from the City of Santa Monica.

Both County and City permits, which providers are required to show at every location where they serve food, would be free to non-profit food programs. However, they would only be good for 48 hours and could take more than a week to obtain from the County, which scrutinizes every application.

The ordinance, sponsored by Mayor Richard Bloom and Council member Pam O'Connor, is intended to stem a perceived growth in the presence of homeless people who are allegedly drawn by the free meals. The meals are offered weekly and sometimes daily by individuals and organizations, mostly from out of town.

According to the City staff report, the law hopes to "diminish the number of projects and the number of distributions" because they "will be unwilling or unable to comply with the state and county requirements."