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Anastasia Boden /

How Kindness Became Criminalized

Even charity now requires a permit.
AZ Hugs lawsuit against the City of Tempe
A picnic hosted by AZ Hugs in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo courtesy of Pacific Legal Foundation)

Three years ago, the city of Tempe, Arizona, was celebrating Austin Davis as a hero. It even gave him an award for his charitable work, which included driving the city’s homeless people to addiction or mental health services and putting on Sunday picnics, where he shared food with those who were hungry.

Anastasia Boden is director of constitutional scholarship at the Pacific Legal Foundation, where she hosts the Supreme Court podcast, In Dissent. She is also a columnist for SCOTUSblog.

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