General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCan criminalizing homelessness help?
It doesn't seem to make sense, but more and more cities are doing it.
Not when over 100 American cities have effectively criminalized everyday life for the homeless, making crimes of things from sleeping outside to brushing teeth in public. Even as cities become more socially conscious about LGBTQ rights and drug policies, theyve become less tolerant of their neediest inhabitants and more comfortable with cops and the justice system sweeping up the human trash, as it were.
City-wide bans on public camping (PDF) have increased by 69 percent throughout the United States. What used to be seen as an annoyance is now prohibited, forcing fines or jail time on those who certainly cant afford it. The only nationwide nonprofit devoted to studying this, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, has been tracking these changes since 2006. Their findings? There are a scary number of laws passed that ironically make it costly to be homeless.
For example, in 33 of the 100 U.S. cities they studied, its illegal to publicly camp. In 18, its illegal to sleep in public. Panhandling is illegal in 27 cities. In 39 cities, its illegal to live in vehicles. For extreme sports junkies (like Yosemite climbers who try to live in their cars), this is an inconvenience. For the homeless, it leaves no alternatives, especially if shelters are too far, too full, or too violent (a common problem). For some people, the choice might be between living in a car or sleeping outsidebut what if both are criminalized?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/30/the-laws-cities-use-to-make-homelessness-a-crime
Cattledog
(5,914 posts)They should be working to solve the problem not criminalize it.
Raster
(20,998 posts)That seems to be the corporate-fascist way to do things... don't solve the problem, CRIMINALIZE IT!
tblue37
(65,343 posts)attractive to the homeless and this increasing their numbers.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)If homelessness is illegal then they can put people in jail or prison and "wallah" free labor. That is the only reason I can see to make homelessness illegal. Hell, illegal immigrants will no longer be "so called taking your jobs" it will be people who are homeless but not by choice. I also see homeless people being murdered on a bigger scale just because they are now illegal and trump like people will feel they have an obligation and right. The murder of these people will rarely be punished. Just my opinion and how I read into it.
True Dough
(17,304 posts)and some argue that Duterte's war on drugs is essentially a war against the poor. Hmm...
tblue37
(65,343 posts)However, I do see "wallah" all over the place online (including here on DU), and when I see it, it normally seems that the person using it has no clue that it is wrong.
Is deliberately spelling it that way some sort of internet meme?
Doreen
(11,686 posts)Now, do you know my mother?
tblue37
(65,343 posts)the internet.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you out about it. I am just curious about where that spelling got started or why people use it.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)with cords. I can usually type fast and watch TV pretty well but when you have a cat who will not stop playing with cords you get distracted. I asked if you know my mother because she is an English major. Not that I did well learning very well.
tblue37
(65,343 posts)english major or teaching English does not guarantee familiarity with French.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)have a conversation. I speak proper English and am a pronunciation Nazi but when it comes to writing I am horrible. Part of my problem is ADHD, dyslexia, and a learning disability but I try.
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)Arrest a homeless person, fine him/her. When said person can't pay, jail him/her. Add cost of being in jail to the fine-rinse repeat...now the person essentially serves a life sentence for being poor. It is disgusting and evil.
FarPoint
(12,368 posts)Secondly, local jail can not handle the population nor afford the escalation of expenses.
Cartoonist
(7,316 posts)I've been homeless several times. Bad luck or bad planning. I would lose an apartment and not be able to get another without a gap of homelessnes. There was no alternative but to sleep in my car.
I was woken once by cops who, fortunately, did not arrest me. Instead, they essentially told me to get out of town. I will side with the homeless on many issues.
KT2000
(20,577 posts)that our society is failing. It should be a signal for a correction of some kind but no - this country has to turn it into a crime.
It takes about $3K to get into a 1 bedroom apartment and pass credit checks if someone has bad luck that caused them to lose their apartment.
The WalMart parking lot is the refuge in this town.
It is disgraceful.
Squinch
(50,949 posts)the homeless. They're finding that this saves them enormous amounts of tax dollars.
One would think that would encourage other areas to try it. But nooooooo. Republicans won't allow it. Because they live to be senselessly cruel and vindictive.
Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)If you don't live in the West Coast it can be hard to conceptualize just how out of hand things have become.
spanone
(135,831 posts)Shandris
(3,447 posts)...chunk of the populace', then yes, it most certainly helps!
I mean, it's not like we've got a huge bubble about to burst timed with the automation of about half the economy. I'm sure housing will be FINE!
Aristus
(66,352 posts)But when politicians want to look like they're doing something without having to think too hard about it, they bleed it out of the innocent, the powerless, the defenseless, and the suffering.