Judge Blocks Arrests of Homeless Near Church
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U.S. District Judge Lawrence McKenna issued a temporary order stopping police from arresting homeless people who sleep on sidewalks outside Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.
The judge said it was clear that allowing people to sleep on the sidewalk, along a posh stretch of Fifth Avenue, falls “within the church’s ministry” and that stopping the church would violate its freedom to exercise religion.
The church had sued, saying that the city was threatening to arrest 35 to 40 people a night.
The order will stand until the issue can be debated in 10 days.
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