Single Mother Facing Prison for Selling Homemade Mexican Dish to Undercover Cop

[sinkspur]

http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/06/single-mother-facing-prison-for-selling

Single Mother Facing Prison for Selling Homemade Mexican Dish to Undercover Cop

Prosecutor: 'I don't write the laws, I enforce them.'

Robby Soave|Nov. 6, 2016 7:01 pm

Mariza Reulas, a single mother, is going to trial and could be sentenced to a year in prison for selling a couple bucks worth of a homemade dish—her Mexican ceviche—to an undercover police officer.

Reulas, who hails from Stockton, California, is part of an informal potluck group on Facebook, where people who like to cook can trade recipes, cooking tips, and occasionally dishes. It's not uncommon for a someone to offer a small amount of money for an equally small amount of food, says Reulas.

According to Fox 40, someone in the Facebook group offered to buy a plate of Ruelas's signature ceviche, a Mexican seafood fish. That person was an undercover cop carrying out a sting: twelve potluck participants were arrested for selling food without a permit.

Reulas refused to plead guilty and accept a lesser sentence—probation—so her case is headed to trial. San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel defended her decision to prosecute:

"I don't write the laws, I enforce them. And the legislature has felt that this is a crime," said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel. She says selling any food not subject to health department inspection puts whoever eats it in real danger, not to mention it undercuts business owners who do get permits to make their food.

She says the 209 Food Spot Facebook group was sent a warning before charges were handed down.

"Food prepared in a facility that does not inspect it creates a risk to the public," said McDaniel.

It's true that McDaniel didn't make the law. But the people who did probably intended for her to exercise discretion in cases like this one, where the alleged perpetrator didn't really do anything wrong. There's a world of difference between operating an illegal business and occasionally accepting some kind of compensation in exchange for a plate of food. The latter is none of the government's business.

[sinkspur]

Kill ALL the lawyers.

[Cripplecreek]

Here in Michigan they've been working on elimination the punishments for laws that a layman wouldn't have a reasonable expectation to know about.

The legislature also just eliminated the permit requirements for certain home improvements under $5000.

[Frank Cannon]

Most states are loaded with these laws. We still have blue laws in PA to cover too many unrelated women living together. Most people probably break the law 5 times a day and don't know it.

BTW, what's the bet the nasty Restaurant Owners or Mexican Food Truck lobby was behind this sting?

[roamer_1]

This is nonsense. It's a private transaction, not a restaurant or food truck.


 

[livius]

CA has always been notorious for this.  I appreciate the need for health laws for restaurants, manufacturers, etc.  For private individuals, obviously that same level is overkill. 

What they should do if they're really concerned is have every private individual selling food take a food sanitation course (how to store food, ship it safely, prepare it in clean conditions, etc.).  Give them a certificate and let them go to it! 

However, it's more about bureaucratic control than food safety.

[geronl]

I have paid for the ingredients for some homemade tamales. Oh no, arrest me... 

[geronl]

What they should do if they're really concerned is have every private individual selling food take a food sanitation course (how to store food, ship it safely, prepare it in clean conditions, etc.).  Give them a certificate and let them go to it! 

About 30 minutes and $20 online.

[andy58-in-nh]

Kill ALL the lawyers.

Damn right. Then cremate them, and send the remains on a rocket headed directly for the sun. Then, nuke the sun. It's the only way to be sure.
 

[GtHawk]

This is nonsense. It's a private transaction, not a restaurant or food truck.

Agree, the intent of the law is not to punish situations like this, but to eliminate unlicensed, unsanitary street vendors. I don't know about where you folks live but I have had too many Tijuana trolley carts( the better ones being shopping carts or just wood crates on wheels) selling everything from tortilla chips and salsa, corn on the cob, menudo and shaved ice all bare handed out of black trash bags. it's those vendors these laws are meant to curtail. Tell me how these unlicensed, unregulated and untaxed income are different than the Julios that sneak across the border and work under the table. Someone tell me the same lie that the city officials told me when I reported them "They're just trying to make an honest living" DISHONESTLY. This woman should have never been charged under the laws used, what she did is no different than if you asked a friend to cook something for you and offered to pay for the ingredients, where was her intent for retail sales?

[Cripplecreek]

Agree, the intent of the law is not to punish situations like this, but to eliminate unlicensed, unsanitary street vendors. I don't know about where you folks live but I have had too many Tijuana trolley carts( the better ones being shopping carts or just wood crates on wheels) selling everything from tortilla chips and salsa, corn on the cob, menudo and shaved ice all bare handed out of black trash bags. it's those vendors these laws are meant to curtail. Tell me how these unlicensed, unregulated and untaxed income are different than the Julios that sneak across the border and work under the table. Someone tell me the same lie that the city officials told me when I reported them "They're just trying to make an honest living" DISHONESTLY. This woman should have never been charged under the laws used, what she did is no different than if you asked a friend to cook something for you and offered to pay for the ingredients, where was her intent for retail sales?

I just wouldn't buy from those people.

[Suppressed]

We still have blue laws in PA to cover too many unrelated women living together.

Not blue laws...
http://www.snopes.com/college/halls/brothel.asp

[dfwgator]

"Drop the Chalupa!"

[roamer_1]

Agree, the intent of the law is not to punish situations like this, but to eliminate unlicensed, unsanitary street vendors.

So what if my hillbilly buddy smokes some venison for me, and I pay him for his trouble? So what?
He ain't friggin Famous Dave. I take my OWN chances with his kitchen, and I am fine with that.

[GtHawk]

I just wouldn't buy from those people.

Not quite the point, why does one group have to have a business license, be held to health codes and sanitary standards and have to pay taxes on their sales, but a "special" class get a pass? I'm not talking about someone with a never ending yard sale here, but people selling consumables with the very real risk of at the least making people ill or worst case killing someone, major corporations with better standards have. 

[Oceander]

What a stupid thing to do.