The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, a 2011 recipient of a 2011 Foundation grant, recently prevailed in a case it brought against the City of Dallas. That case, Big Hart v. City of Dallas, concerned restrictions by the City on private organizations offering food to poor and homeless people in public places; the restrictions made it virtually impossible for the groups to operate, jeopardizing vital access to food and other supports for thousands of poor people in Dallas.
After trial, the judge held that the city’s enforcement of restrictions on plaintiffs, two religious food sharing organizations, violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act (TRFRA) and enjoined its enforcement in its entirety. The Court’s decision appears here.
(May 2013)