Arnold Abbott is 90 years old, but he has been slapped with a weird charge of up to 60 days in jail for a strange crime--feeding the needy. There is a new law that bans people in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from sharing meals with the public.

Along with Abbott, two others were also charged--Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale and Mark Sims of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs, according to local10.com.They face 60 days in jail and a $500 fine each.

Arnold Abbott may be fined $500 and get jailed after the cops caught him feeding homeless people in a park last Sunday. He was arrested and accused of breaking the law with a couple of ministers from the Sanctuary Church. It prepares hundreds of meals that can be given out every week. When the officers came to arrest the men, onlookers shouted to officers: "Shame on you!" according to The Independent.

Abbott said that a police officer just walked upto him and ordered him to "drop that plate" as if it was a weapon. Astounded by the police action, he pointed out that the poorest of the poor" that don't even have a "roof over their heads." How can anyone push them away, he wondered.

In 1999, he sued the City of Fort Lauderdale when he was stopped in his act of giving charity to poor people at the beach. The court found it opposing the Constitution. The new law that is planned to be implemented in Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas and Philadelphia came into effect last week.

Mayor Jack Seiler of Baltimore was opposed to the activism and said that some help could be provided by the homeless assistance center run by the Broward Partnership.

Ron Book, a city lobbyist, clarified the U.S. newspaper, Sun Sentinel, that it is important to discourage feeding people on the streets. Whatever pushes that is a positive action, according to him. Arnold Abbott, who describes himself as his "brother's keeper" and follows the edict of loving thy neighbor, wants to sue the city again, as he wants to continue playing the Good Samaritan.

The new rules by the city specify that groups should be situated about 500 feet away from houses and food sites should be confined only to one per city block. Charity organizations that are unhappy with the rules call it a form of "social cleansing."

Said Michael Stoops, community organiser at the National Coalition for the Homeless, to NBC News, that with economic development and tourism are not in sync with destitute and their charitable sources of food.

Arnold had started the Love Thy Neighbour organization in memory of his late wife, Maureen, so that they could go on with social service by making and sharing food at Holiday Park and Fort Lauderdale Beach.