Police issued Crow-Smith a warning, saying she
needed a vendor's permit after handing out the water during a First Friday Art
Walk on July 6. A Phoenix city memo states that Crow-Smith violated an ordinance
requiring permits for "vending, selling, serving, displaying, offering for
sale or giving away goods, wares, or merchandise or food from either a mobile
vending unit or a mobile food vending unit."
"I don't even think it's about religious
beliefs, I think anybody should be able to give away water, on the sidewalk to
anybody. It's hot, and it's a nice thing to do," Crow-Smith said in an
August interview with a local ABC affiliate.
Virginia-based Christian-rights organization
The Rutherford Institute has formally taken up her cause, threatening to sue
the city if Phoenix officials do not apologize to Crow-Smith.
In a letter to Phoenix city officials,
Rutherford attorney Doug Drury says the ordinance does not apply to Crow-Smith,
since she was giving away the water bottles for free. "Ms. Crow-Smith's
conduct was a manifestation of her sincerely held religious beliefs," the
letter adds.
However, Phoenix officials say they are not
likely to change their position, noting they only gave Crow-Smith a warning
rather than a fine.
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