Phoenix Woman Ordered to Not Give Out Water in 112 Degree Heat Because She Lacked a Permit: Absurd or Appropriate?

This posting is somewhat misleading. It boils (not pun intended) to an inspector who was a moron. The facts are as follows:

Dwayne Grierson, the “Neighborhood Preservation Inspector,” told the good Samaritan that handing out free water is considered vending with a license. In essence, she was told citizens of Phoenix must obtain permission before showing acts of kindness. But Rutherford spokesmen said the Phoenix City Code has no such prohibition of individuals from handing out free water, or anything else. The Code only states that individuals cannot sell goods or services on public sidewalks and property without first obtaining a vending permit.

Rutherford President, John W. Whitehead, said in a letter to the city that its actions were not justified under Phoenix city code. “In fact, the Phoenix City Code prohibits only ‘vending’ on city sidewalks without a license. ‘Sidewalk vending’ is defined as ‘peddling, vending, selling, displaying, or offering for sale any item of tangible personal property or other thing of value upon a sidewalk of the city of Phoenix.’

The citation also “violated Ms. Crow-Smith’s statutory and First Amendment rights to freely exercise her religion and Fourteenth Amendment due process rights,” said Whitehead. “As these provisions are expressly limited to the sale of goods, they clearly do not apply to Ms. Crow-Smith’s act of giving away water. Thus, Inspector Grierson’s actions constitute a completely unjustified interference with an act of charity by a private citizen and a violation of Ms. Crow-Smith’s right to be free from interference with her fundamental liberty interests absent due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment.”