Do Not Send Mother to Jail for Selling Homemade Ceviche on Facebook!

A mother from Stockton, CA is facing jail time for selling homemade ceviche to someone over Facebook. Sign this petition to urge the DA to drop the charges!

Mariza Ruelas is part of a Facebook group in which people share recipes, cooking tips and sometimes swap food for favors or meals. Ruelas, a single, unemployed mother of 6, had leftovers last December and offered to sell some for $12.

An undercover cop bought a dish, and now Ruelas is facing a misdemeanor for operating a food facility and a business without a license. Other people were caught in the sting too, but accepted plea deals. Ruelas is fighting and could end up in jail just for trying to make a living and contributing to her community.

This is utterly ridiculous. These laws were intended to ensure businesses serving food to hundreds a day met certain standards, not to prosecute individuals. Sure, there is an inherent risk that we take on when we pay a friend for dinner ingredients or buy a baked good from someone on the street. Taking that risk does not ruin lives, but criminalizing it sure does.

Sign this petition to urge the DA to drop the charges against Ruelas!