Friday, January 13, 2006
Criminalizing the Homeless
A report on the criminalization of homelessness was released on Wednesday, January 11, 2006 in the law offices of Covington and Burling in Washington D.C. The report was prepared by the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP). The report is called “A Dream Denied: The Criminalizaton of Homelessness in U.S. Cities”.
The report cites the 20 meanest cities in the U.S. and bases this rating on ordinances and laws the mean city imposes against homeless people for performing life-sustaining acts in public spaces. In addition to the 20 meanest cities, the report discusses 75 other cities imposing constitutionally questionable policies on the homeless. Washington, D.C. was not one of the 20 meanest cities, but it was on the list of cities that need to improve their approach to the issue of homelessness.
The report can be found at: nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/index.html
There are no anti-loitering laws in DC. These laws were declared unconstitutional in D.C Superior Court in 1968. There is one Drop-in center. It runs from early morning until 3:30 pm in a church in downtown DC. Homeless people can get a shower, clean up, and get a meal there. This drop-in center serves about a hundred people a day. The population living in the streets in D.C. is approximately a thousand.
There are many types of “mean” laws applied to homeless people. Some prevent feeding the homeless where they congregate. DC police often impose this type of law on those who feed homeless people in Dupont Circle. When successfully applied, this law imposes a fine and possible jail time for a violation for feeding the homeless.
When a city doesn’t offer minimal care to its most vulnerable residents, that city is not doing the minimum a government should do to care for its people. Many among the homeless population in this country are U.S military veterans. Sadly, the veteran homeless population grows with more people returning from Iraq. Human services officials in cities that have laws and ordinances on the books which adversely affect the quality of life of their homeless population should read the report to see what simple programs can be implemented to ease the unnecessary burden that is put on the criminal justice system for criminalizing life-sustaining activities of the homeless. Jailing is a lot more costly than sheltering.
By Nancy Shia
January 2006
The report cites the 20 meanest cities in the U.S. and bases this rating on ordinances and laws the mean city imposes against homeless people for performing life-sustaining acts in public spaces. In addition to the 20 meanest cities, the report discusses 75 other cities imposing constitutionally questionable policies on the homeless. Washington, D.C. was not one of the 20 meanest cities, but it was on the list of cities that need to improve their approach to the issue of homelessness.
The report can be found at: nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/index.html
There are no anti-loitering laws in DC. These laws were declared unconstitutional in D.C Superior Court in 1968. There is one Drop-in center. It runs from early morning until 3:30 pm in a church in downtown DC. Homeless people can get a shower, clean up, and get a meal there. This drop-in center serves about a hundred people a day. The population living in the streets in D.C. is approximately a thousand.
There are many types of “mean” laws applied to homeless people. Some prevent feeding the homeless where they congregate. DC police often impose this type of law on those who feed homeless people in Dupont Circle. When successfully applied, this law imposes a fine and possible jail time for a violation for feeding the homeless.
When a city doesn’t offer minimal care to its most vulnerable residents, that city is not doing the minimum a government should do to care for its people. Many among the homeless population in this country are U.S military veterans. Sadly, the veteran homeless population grows with more people returning from Iraq. Human services officials in cities that have laws and ordinances on the books which adversely affect the quality of life of their homeless population should read the report to see what simple programs can be implemented to ease the unnecessary burden that is put on the criminal justice system for criminalizing life-sustaining activities of the homeless. Jailing is a lot more costly than sheltering.
By Nancy Shia
January 2006
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when people find that they can "get by" on the system, and have depended on the streets for large portions of their lives, then they become "burdens" of the system. That is, they suck our tax dollars and become dependent on those dollars rather than living the "American Dream" of becoming self sefficient and independent. I'm not going to stereotype and say that all homeless people are manipulative, because those who come from homes and were raised not to depend on Uncle Sam are the ones who find their way into the drop off centers and back onto their feet. Its the other few hundred who know nothing but the street that you are raising concern about. The Dupont Circle issue raises the point that the homeless who "loiter" in DC know their way around. Who you shoudl be bucking and fighting with is the VA. THose Americans who fought in Iraq, fought in Afghan, fought in Vietnam and Korea and now have no where to go due to ailments, dementia, PTSD and so on deserve our attention and our tax dollars. Those homeless who want to mooch off my tax dollars. No. They don't need more money, more shelters or more resources. They need jobs, food and a showers. Welcome to America. Land of the free.
# posted by 
: 3:20 PM, January 17, 2006
: 3:20 PM, January 17, 2006
I would just like to point out that people in genral are manipulative. The only diffrence between the homless and the "working" is that unlike us who manipulate for an extra week of vacation or to get the best deal on a new car etc. the homless are just trying to get a bite to eat or a train trip somewhere or sometimes yes even some alcohaul and tobaco. But frankly when was the last time we crticized ourselves for opening a bottle of whine. The truth is we have a system that keeps peole living in a vicious cycle. I agree that what they really need is a job, but to get that one must have some type of skill traning, one must have a wardrob of cloths and somewhere to wash them, one must be able to shower, amd one must have a home. The second question on almost any application form is what is your address? how many places will take someone who puts down "streets"? We must ix the system, but in the meantime we shouldn't peanlize those who are not actually to blame. We as a society have created the "homeless problem" and we as a society must fix it.
# posted by : 9:34 AM, January 18, 2006
: 9:34 AM, January 18, 2006
I agree, we do need to fix the system, but throwing resources away to those who abuse the priveldge (and yes we all manipulate)is a waste of american tax dollars. I have been where they are and I have walked out of it on top, now with a good job and with a nice house, and i don't feel guilty with my bottle of wine on a happy occation, but then I bought that bottle of wine with the left over money i earned working 60 hours a week, not manhandling the tax payers. The system is broken. I'm not going to argue that point. I am a social worker, and I have can see a future in the Nation's Capitol without such a severe population of homeless, but then what's the cost of living in Georgetown? Du Pont Circle? Anywhere in Northern Virginia.. how the hell can anyone afford housing with some sort of aid... I am a single parent as well, and I have a townhouse on the virginia side of the river. I've found that I have to work twice as hard ot make it honest, but you know what... I am living the American dream. Not milking off your tax income...
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# posted by : 11:58 AM, January 20, 2006
: 11:58 AM, January 20, 2006 << Home
