- Soup kitchens serving the homeless have been banned in the US city of Las Vegas with fines coming into force for anyone caught giving hand-outs in its parks.
Council officials decided to curb the charity practice, with possible fines of $1,000 and six months imprisonment, after complaints from residents.
Other US cities have rules or have looked at limiting free food giveaways.
Las Vegas is thought to be the first to explicitly make it an offence to feed the poor, says the New York Times.
— Larry, Attack Monkey, Light Reading
On any given day in the Haight Asbury neighborhood in San Francisco, there are about 10 homeless people sitting on sidewalks and park benches. Aside from donating to the local food bank and volunteering at soup kitchens, you quickly realize how helpless you are to make any real difference. Many homeless people are severely mentally ill.
And then there are some who are addicted to drugs. Just yesterday I discovered that a man is camping out in a wooded park across the street from my home (where camping is prohibited). He warned me not to let my daughter go into his area because he's got needles, etc. there. I never let her out of my sight anyway, a sad reality of urban living.
If this were you would you let the guy live there since he's obviously down on his luck? Or would you call the police?