DOJ: unconstitutional to ban homeless from sleeping outside

[downtoearth]

Of course... I'm surprised this had to go all the way to a DOJ review for municipalities and covenants to realize that it's ridiculous to criminalize being homeless.

[aurora]

Aug 14, 2015 10:48:00 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Of course... I'm surprised this had to go all the way to a DOJ review for municipalities and covenants to realize that it's ridiculous to criminalize being homeless.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were thinking of it along the lines of "not in my community" than actually criminalizing homelessness. Not that that would make it right, of course.

[penguingrrl]

It sounds to me like a way to be NIMBY about homelessness. They know it won't end if there aren't enough shelters. My town prohibits cars from parking on street from 3-5 am. I don't remember the reason given, but the real reason is to prevent people from living in their cars here, which is pretty disgusting actually. I would imagine laws essentially criminalizing homelessness are pretty common, just hidden with different wording in various places.

[Michelle]

I was driving down the road the other day and saw some cops nudging at a guy, moving their arms about as if to tell him he cannot sleep under the overpass where he was sleeping. At first I thought, "what jerks!" Then I noticed he was wearing some barely-there tighty whiteys and that is it. So... ok let's get dressed. It IS hot, but at least have some shorts on. Your junk may be hanging out the side there.

I turned the corner and drove down the frontage road and noticed that weeds had grown really high (like 6 feet) and behind the leaves was a line of bedding - for at least 1/8 of a mile. It was like a community. There were some people sleeping and some empty beds. It was really sad.

[meshaliuknits]

Sit Lie laws are REALLY controversial here. They keep getting proposed, though.

[forreals]

"Homelessness never left town because somebody gave it a ticket," Tars says. "The only way to end homelessness is to make sure everybody has access to affordable, decent housing."[\b]

Amen.

[sushi]

Did I miss if they addressed the point cities try to make about controlling use of public space vs banning sleeping outdoors?

In Hawaii, public parks are closed fairly early. They also have bus benches that you can't sleep on. And then ones you can, they probably make the argument of obstruction of use of public transportation.