The City of Roswell is facing a free speech lawsuit over its alleged handling of bi-weekly food distributions at a public plaza in the center of the city, according to an announcement Monday from the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.
The center, which filed the lawsuit Monday, said that Roswell officials illegally prohibited Food Not Bombs, which advocates for an end to hunger through military divestment, from distributing free food at Pioneer Plaza, which sits in front of government buildings on North Main Street in Roswell.
According to the lawsuit, Roswell officials in late 2025 informed Food Not Bombs that the group would need to get a permit and insurance to continue distributing food at the plaza.
As a result, the group has not distributed food in the plaza since November of last year. Instead, the group has held its bi-weekly giveaways at a church that is far from public transportation and the city center, said Jocelyn Smith, a founding member of Food Not Bombs Roswell, in an interview Monday with Source NM.
The group provided food to as many as 150 people, many of them unhoused, at least twice a week, Smith said. At its current location, the group feeds roughly 30 people, she said, and the group has had to turn down food donations as a result.
“It’s been super huge,” Smith said of the impact of relocating. “Us not being there is hindering us from being able to serve food out when we need to.”
The lawsuit alleges that a Roswell ordinance that governs the permitting process for vendors and events is unconstitutional and overly broad. It further alleges that the city unfairly restricted Food Not Bombs while allowing other groups to distribute free food without a permit.
City of Roswell spokesperson Todd Wildermuth declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
The lawsuit says the group’s distributions amount to “expressive food sharing” protected by the state Constitution. Because the group has an explicit anti-war political message, distributing food is protected speech, said Marco Alarid White, a lawyer for the center.
“It’s a mutual aid, collective approach, with that kind of message baked in about food being a human right and wanting to get away from a society that promotes militarism,” Alarid White told Source NM on Monday. “Our state Constitution protects the kind of food sharing being done by Food Not Bombs Roswell, which is expressive conduct.”
Alarid White said the center’s lawsuit is likely the first free speech lawsuit in New Mexico centered around free food distributions.
The lawsuit asks a judge to declare the city’s permitting ordinance as unconstitutional and prohibit the city from enforcing it. It also seeks damages for Food Not Bombs for “loss of rights” the group experienced under the state Constitution.
