In September, a group of residents in Fort Worth, Texas, decided to do something to combat growing hunger in their city. They placed a refrigerator on a city street and stocked it with food that anyone in need could take and eat. For free. Months later, though, their efforts are in jeopardy due to an unwelcome combination of outdated laws and overzealous regulators.

So begins a story from Baylen Linnekin, “Fort Worth Regulators Target Community Fridges Providing Free Food for People in Need,” Reason, January 16, 2020.

Fort Worth regulators have found an obscure law that allows them to prevent people from feeding their fellow humans.