WASHINGTON -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/16/criminalization-homelessness_n_5591787.html
Since the Great Recession, many American cities have sought to eradicate homelessness not so much by giving people shelter, but by making it illegal to be homeless.
Citywide bans on things that homeless people need to do to survive are on the rise, according to a new report by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. Key findings from the center's survey of 187 U.S. cities show that since 2011:
According to Wikipedia:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 5th Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress [11] estimated that 1.56 million people, or one in every 200 Americans, experienced homelessness and found shelter between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009 (p. iii). On a single night in January 2009, 643,000 people were homeless.
• 78 percent of all sheltered homeless persons are adults.
• 61 percent are male.
• 62 percent are members of a minority group.
• 38 percent are 31-to-50 years old.
• 64 percent are in one-person households.
• 38 percent have a disability.
(Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, 2009)
Given the increase in power and revenues to For-Profit prisons in recent years, does anyone think criminalizing the homeless has an economic motive behind it? And is it racially motivated?
Since the Great Recession, many American cities have sought to eradicate homelessness not so much by giving people shelter, but by making it illegal to be homeless.
Citywide bans on things that homeless people need to do to survive are on the rise, according to a new report by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. Key findings from the center's survey of 187 U.S. cities show that since 2011:
- Citywide bans on camping in public have increased by 60 percent.
- Citywide bans on begging have increased by 25 percent.
- Citywide bans on loitering, loafing, and vagrancy have increased by 35 percent.
- Citywide bans on sitting or lying down in particular public places have increased by 43 percent.
- Bans on sleeping in vehicles have increased by 119 percent.
According to Wikipedia:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 5th Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress [11] estimated that 1.56 million people, or one in every 200 Americans, experienced homelessness and found shelter between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009 (p. iii). On a single night in January 2009, 643,000 people were homeless.
• 78 percent of all sheltered homeless persons are adults.
• 61 percent are male.
• 62 percent are members of a minority group.
• 38 percent are 31-to-50 years old.
• 64 percent are in one-person households.
• 38 percent have a disability.
(Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, 2009)
Given the increase in power and revenues to For-Profit prisons in recent years, does anyone think criminalizing the homeless has an economic motive behind it? And is it racially motivated?
like people choose to be homeless
