Give a Panhandler a Buck, Get Ticketed by San Antonio Cops

A panhandler asks for a dollar or a bite to eat,
you casually pass him a buck or a sandwich, and you…get cited by
a cop with nothing better to do? That’s the plan in San Antonio,
Texas. The police chief there, William McManus, reportedly got a
warm reception from the city council when he pushed for a law
criminalizing small acts of kindness.
From MySanAntonio:

SAN ANTONIO — A little act of charity — giving a buck to a
panhandler — could soon become illegal in San Antonio.

Police Chief William McManus told the City Council’s Public
Safety Committee Wednesday that he is working with the City
Attorney’s Office to craft an ordinance that would give the police
the authority to cite those who give cash to panhandlers…

The draft ordinance is expected to include language that would
make it illegal to both give money and to give food to
panhandlers.

Panhandling is already illegal in San Antonio—as it is in other
control freaky communities, like
Flagstaff, Arizona, which went through the
bother of banning the practice a second time after the old law
was ruled unconstitutional.

San Antonio then goes to the supply side of the equation,
banning folks who might want to share a little largesse with the
homeless, whether in cash or sustenance. Unfortunately, the city
isn’t exploring uncharted territory. Punishing pastors,
organizations, and individuals for feeding the less fortunate has
become a
popular practice around
the country. Sometimes, officials twist existing regulations
into knots to get it done, such as jamming up a Birmingham, Alabama
preacher because he lacked a food truck permit for his rolling soup
kitchen.

Other times, as in the planned San Antonio, ordinance, they ban
charity itself.

San Antonio officials are considering “dozens
of measures” intended to reduce “quality of life” crimes. One
of the other planned restrictions is a ban on renting motel rooms
for fewer than 12 hours at a time to make it more difficult for
prostitutes to do business. So the voluntary exchange of sex for
cash is apparently not considered an acceptable alternative to
begging (or giving) a few bucks or a sandwich with nothing expected
in return.

That perfect world they’re looking for must be just one more law
away.