DOJ backs faith-based agency, claims it has right under religious-freedom law to feed the homeless

City of Santa Ana denied occupancy permit for all-volunteer organization

Image adapted from photo by John Tyson, licensed by Unsplash.

The U.S. Department of Justice has gone to bat on religious-freedom grounds for a small nonprofit ministry that is being threatened with civil and criminal penalties if it provides snacks and drinks to the homeless and needy at a resource center in Santa Ana, Calif.

The DOJ filed a statement of…