ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Rev. Larry Rice's New Life Evangelistic Center in St. Louis has filed suit against the city in an effort to keep its occupancy permit to operate a shelter for homeless people.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The city has said it will shut down the downtown shelter unless it abides by the permit, which allows no more than 32 people to be housed there overnight. The shelter often accommodates more than 200 homeless people.
The shelter has drawn complaints about crime and nuisance activities from people who work and live nearby, but Rice says that without New Life, many people will have no place to turn.