Via Religion Clause, the city of Dallas was denied its motion for summary judgment in defense of a lawsuit challenging its Food Establishments Ordinance. The Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act gives weight to plaintiffs' claims, the judge ruled, that the law improperly restricts a homeless ministry by requiring food to be distributed only in pre-approved locations.
Plaintiffs respond that the location requirement substantially burdens their religious expression because it severely restricts their ability to share food in accordance with their religious beliefs. Plaintiffs' food sharing practices require them to seek out homeless people in the communities' streets and feed them…. [T]heir religious calling requires them and their organizations to go out into the streets to feed and minister to the homeless. Plaintiffs and their volunteers feed the homeless at different locations that change frequently due to the constantly changing circumstances of the homeless people they serve. Plaintiffs routinely drive around Dallas looking for homeless individuals with whom to share food. Once they locate a group, Plaintiffs will stop, share their food, and share religious teachings. Plaintiffs testify the Ordinance's pre-approved location requirement restricts their ability to practice their religious beliefs because it burdens their ability to spontaneously share food with homeless people or to actively seek them out in hard to reach, unpredictable, and ever-changing locations. Plaintiffs also testify that waiting for location preapproval would effectively halt their food sharing practices since obtaining City approval is a lengthy process….
The judge then concluded that a jury could reasonably determine that the ordinance improperly restricts plaintiffs' religious exercise. You can read the opinion here.
