Second class citizens, how america's homeless are criminalized.
Hey there Steemians!
Today I had a chance to talk with one of the city councilors for the town I live in, and brought to her attention the fact that the city is criminalizing a very human behavior, sleeping.
You see, here in Corvallis Oregon there is a law which says if you are sleeping in public, you can be given a ticket, in essence saying that since you can't afford to pay for a place to live, you have to pay for not being able to afford a place to live.
When you get the sleeping in public ticket, if you don't the have money to pay the ticket, you can avoid jail time by doing community service, using your time not to improve your lot in life, but rather to avoid being further punished for not having housing, so the time which that person could have been using to job hunt, or work for themselves, is instead used to avoid jail time for the crime of sleeping in a way that is banned by the city.
CLASS WARFARE VIDEO
There are quite a few people being displaced by gentrification from Portland and Seattle to the north, as well as Medford and Sacramento to the south, also with the increase in wild fires, land slides, flash floods and other natural disasters associated with global warming there are bound to be even more homeless people, so it makes sense for the city to choose a progressive policy to address the challenges of homelessness, rather than further criminalizing the poverty stricken, decriminalizing basic human behaviors like sleeping seems to be the best solution.
This is why I have been asking city council, the city planner, and the mayor to adopt the Right To Rest Act, also known as The Homeless Bill Of Rights.
The Right To Rest Act is model legislation which says in essence, that human behaviors, behaviors which all humans must engage in as a part of daily life should not be a crime, that sitting, standing, laying, eating, drinking, sleeping, and praying should be allowed in all public places.
Currently the the city spends A LOT OF MONEY on police action, judicial proceedings and incarceration of the homeless, as a result of criminalizing basic survival, the city doesn't have extra money for a lot of it's genuine needs, like affordable housing for instance, so it makes sense, financially speaking, to decriminalize sleeping, because a sleeping person is of no threat to anyone, and where there is no victim, there is no crime.
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Thanks for taking the time to read this far!
I have other posts about social inequity, like this one about the Private prison industry and this one about how corporations are above the law.
People should be able to sleep. In some places, it's even illegal to sleep in your car.
Tonight in the usa, there will be more than 40,000 homeless veterans on the streets.
We need better solutions.
Finally! A state that is willing to step up and address this urgent issue. It's about time! Thanks for posting about this. It was alarming to see an increase in the number of places that were criminalizing homelessness. There was a guy in San Diego who actually got a ticket for feeding a homeless guy, and a couple of years ago, there was a pastor in North Carolina who was actually jailed for feeding the homeless in a public park. His church would get together once a week, and bring food to a local park where the homeless were known to gather. I mean, what kind of society are we, when people are arrested for providing a basic necessity of life to a starving human being?
I read the text of the bill, thanks for including the link. It is a very comprehensive bill, allowing for several forms of reparation for homeless persons, as well as restoring their civil rights.
It is a sad day when we have to make laws to RESTORE someone's rights, rights that are guaranteed to us as United States citizens, under the Constitution.
Oregon is to be commended for their action. Please keep us updated on the progression of this bill. I do hope other states will soon follow suit. America is only as strong as its weakest citizen.
For the past couple of years this bill has died in committee, it is likely to happen again.
The legislature here is only interested in serving those who are greasing palms.
Really? It died in committee? wow Do you have private prisons in Oregon? I ask, because here in Oklahoma we do, and they have quotas. The state has to pay a penalty when they fall below a certain occupancy. It's moronic, and criminal, in and of itself. I guess people are starting to ask questions, like, "With all this surveillance, why is there still crime?"
They need to invent a new kind of crime that people can't do anything about. It's hella hard to pull yourself out of homelessness. It's all about the money, you are so right. And yet, some people seem to have plenty of it. ;)
In the usa rights have been for those select few who own property, it's the basis of rights in the constitution.
Even now owning land is the basis for rights.
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