The city if Dayton is closing out a two-year legal battle, which started after a volunteer with Nourish Our Neighbors was handcuffed and arrested for feeding a homeless man in Courthouse Square.
Pacific Legal Foundation, worked the local nonprofit's case pro bono, argued the arrest violated the volunteer's constitutional rights. The nonprofit's lawyers say the city is offering $56,000 to settle the case, covering legal fees.
The city of Dayton declined to comment on the settlement.
The arresting officer cited a city ordinance that barred the distribution of food, clothing or toiletries in a public place without a permit. Violation of that ordinance carried a fourth degree misdemeanor charge.
Police enforced this ordinance on April 7, 2024, when a Nourish Our Neighbors volunteer, Mitchel West, was working in Dayton's Courthouse Square to serve food.
He was handcuffed and arrested after handing a burrito to a man while police were ordering volunteers to cease their routine food distribution.
West was detained for more than 30 minutes before being released. While no charged were filed, Pacific Legal Foundation said on its website that after the incident, attendance dropped by nearly half and volunteers became increasingly harder to recruit our of fear of police retaliation.
"We heard about this story, we reached out to them and we said, 'Hey, we think (what) the city of Dayton is doing is wrong and it's not just wrong, it's unconstitutional," said Christian Townsend, attorney with Pacific Legal.
Nourish Our Neighbors filed a lawsuit over the incident in December, 2024.
“When our founders wrote the First Amendment, they protected all forms of protest," Townsend said. "Whether it's a speech or a demonstration or burning the American flag or providing food to the neighbors.”
The Southern District of Ohio Judge Thomas Rose ruled in agreement with the foundation in June, barring the city from enforcing its permit requirement for food distribution.
Dayton initially filed an appeal over the judge's ruling, but is now settling the case for $56,000.
The founder of Nourish Our Neighbors, Mckahla Moran, was deposed for the lawsuit and helped through every step of the process. Townsend said she felt vindicated by the judges ruling and subsequent settlement.
"She was just ecstatic. She now has a tattoo on her forearm, memorializing that victory," he said.
"McKahla didn't get any money from this, there's no damages that you can get from the government, but it costs us over $100,000 to litigate this lawsuit."
Townsend said Nourish Our Neighbors never stopped giving away free food, and this ruling will protect them and other nonprofits working to feed their neighbors.
"We've seen cities across the country, whether it's in Arizona or in St. Louis, putting people in handcuffs over giving food to other people. And that sort of regulations should not be in place," he said. "And we hope that this decision sort of provides a road map for others who are trying to vindicate their constitutional rights."
