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CALIFORNIA LEADS NATION IN HOMELESS CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
A New national report -- "Illegal to be Homeless" -- finds that more jurisdictions are enacting laws that effectively criminalize homelessness by prohibiting activities such as sleeping or camping in public, even when no shelter beds are available.
From
The National Coalition for the Homeless
and
The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
____________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2002
LOCAL CONTACT: Paul Boden (SFCOH) (415) 346-3740
NATL. CONTACTS: Donald Whitehead (NCH) (202) 737-6444 x14
Maria Foscarinis (NLCHP) (202) 638-2535
ADVOCATES DECRY INCREASING HOMELESS CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS NATIONALLY
What: Press Conference Marking the Release of Report Documenting Increasing National Trend of Criminalizing People Who Are Homeless
When: Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday,
Tuesday, January 15, 2001, 1:00PM
Where: Steps of State Building,
501 Van Ness (at McAllister)
WASHINGTON, DC - On the 73rd anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth, January 15th, advocates will release findings from the latest report documenting the growing trend of criminalizing homeless people in the US. The report finds that more jurisdictions are enacting laws that effectively criminalize homelessness by prohibiting activities such as sleeping or camping in public, even when no shelter beds are available.
The report finds that the use of these ordinances is increasing. Almost 80 percent of the cities surveyed in the 2002 report have laws that prohibit sleeping/ camping in public areas. Meanwhile, 100 percent of communities surveyed lack enough shelter beds to meet demand.
The report distinguishes California as the "meanest" state in the country for people who are poor and homeless, with New York City vying with Atlanta, GA and San Francisco, CA- the three meanest cities nationally- for top notoriety. Special mention goes to Palm Beach County, FL for their chillingly Orwellian methods of tracking people who are homeless.
" 12 Meanest Cities" List:
New York, NY
Atlanta, GA
San Francisco, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
Jacksonville, FL
Pontiac, MI
Santa Cruz, CA
Austin, TX
Chicago, IL
Honolulu, HI
Baltimore, MD
Palm Beach County, FL
"Meanest State":
California
The National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP)- a project of the National Coalition for the Homeless- has partnered this year with the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty to compile data samplings from 80 communities, both urban and rural, in 37 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has published five similar reports in the past decade. This is the most comprehensive examination of its type on this issue to date.
"Homelessness will not disappear simply by putting people behind bars. We need to address the systemic causes and look at real solutions. The burden of poverty is far too great to be exacerbated by the incarceration of the impoverished. Affordable housing, health care and livable wages are what we need to truly bring an end to homelessness." stated Donald Whitehead, formerly homeless and now Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
"Punishing homeless Americans for living in public- when thousands literally have no other alternative- is inhumane, immoral, and unjust- - and it just won’t work. What will work is affordable housing, healthcare, and
living-wage jobs," said Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.
Paul Boden, Director of the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness explains, "Homeless peoples' organizations are becoming stronger and united to defend our rights to housing, treatment, living wage jobs, and quality education. People who are homeless will not disappear or cease to exist."
Since 1979, over $28 billion has been cut from the Federal housing budget, and advocates note that homelessness has risen in direct proportion to these cuts. In a country where there is no jurisdiction where minimum wage earners can afford the lowest Fair Market Rent, and where rates of homelessness are rapidly growing, it is increasingly difficult for many to avoid jail as a substitute for housing. "In Atlanta, a city with no public toilets, people who are homeless are jailed for public urination, and forced to work free," asserted Anita Beaty, Director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless.
Since the best solution to these civil rights abuses directed at homeless people is housing, it is imperative to support ambitious efforts to build more affordable housing. The National Affordable Housing Trust fund (HR2340 and S1249) is one such effort. Locally, the San Francisco Organizing Project has proposed a local affordable housing construction bond, and Senator John Burton has proposed a measure on the State level.
80 communities documented in the report, Illegal to be Homeless: The Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States, published by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty:
Albuquerque, NM
Anchorage, AK
Athens, GA
Atlanta, GA
Atlantic City, NJ
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Buena Park, CA
Buffalo, NY
Charleston, SC
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Colorado Springs, CO
Columbus, OH
Covington, KY
Dallas, TX
Decatur, GA
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
El Paso, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Fresno, CA
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Jacksonville, FL
Jeffersonville, IN
Kansas City, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Lexington, KY
Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Louisville, KY
Lynnwood, WA
Memphis, TN
Mesa, AZ
Miami, FL
Milwaukee, WI
Minneapolis, MN
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Norfolk, VA
Oakland, CA
Oklahoma City, OK
Omaha, NE
Palm Beach County, FL
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Pontiac, MI
Portland, ME
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
Reno, NV
Rio Piedras, PR
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
San Angelo, TX
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
San Juan, PR
Santa Cruz, CA
Santurce, PR
Seattle, WA
Sioux Falls, SD
St. Louis, MO
Toledo, OH
Trenton, NJ
Tucson, AZ
Tulsa, OK
Valdosta, GA
Virginia Beach, VA
Washington, DC
Wheeling, WV
National Coalition for the Homeless
012 14th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005-3406
202-737-6444#14 - dwhitehead [at] nationalhomeless.org
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
1411 K Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005-3406
202-638-2535 - info [at] nlchp.org
--
Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco
468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
415/346.3740-voice • 415/7755639-fax
coh [at] sf-homeless-coalition.org
http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org
The National Coalition for the Homeless
and
The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
____________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2002
LOCAL CONTACT: Paul Boden (SFCOH) (415) 346-3740
NATL. CONTACTS: Donald Whitehead (NCH) (202) 737-6444 x14
Maria Foscarinis (NLCHP) (202) 638-2535
ADVOCATES DECRY INCREASING HOMELESS CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS NATIONALLY
What: Press Conference Marking the Release of Report Documenting Increasing National Trend of Criminalizing People Who Are Homeless
When: Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday,
Tuesday, January 15, 2001, 1:00PM
Where: Steps of State Building,
501 Van Ness (at McAllister)
WASHINGTON, DC - On the 73rd anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth, January 15th, advocates will release findings from the latest report documenting the growing trend of criminalizing homeless people in the US. The report finds that more jurisdictions are enacting laws that effectively criminalize homelessness by prohibiting activities such as sleeping or camping in public, even when no shelter beds are available.
The report finds that the use of these ordinances is increasing. Almost 80 percent of the cities surveyed in the 2002 report have laws that prohibit sleeping/ camping in public areas. Meanwhile, 100 percent of communities surveyed lack enough shelter beds to meet demand.
The report distinguishes California as the "meanest" state in the country for people who are poor and homeless, with New York City vying with Atlanta, GA and San Francisco, CA- the three meanest cities nationally- for top notoriety. Special mention goes to Palm Beach County, FL for their chillingly Orwellian methods of tracking people who are homeless.
" 12 Meanest Cities" List:
New York, NY
Atlanta, GA
San Francisco, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
Jacksonville, FL
Pontiac, MI
Santa Cruz, CA
Austin, TX
Chicago, IL
Honolulu, HI
Baltimore, MD
Palm Beach County, FL
"Meanest State":
California
The National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP)- a project of the National Coalition for the Homeless- has partnered this year with the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty to compile data samplings from 80 communities, both urban and rural, in 37 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has published five similar reports in the past decade. This is the most comprehensive examination of its type on this issue to date.
"Homelessness will not disappear simply by putting people behind bars. We need to address the systemic causes and look at real solutions. The burden of poverty is far too great to be exacerbated by the incarceration of the impoverished. Affordable housing, health care and livable wages are what we need to truly bring an end to homelessness." stated Donald Whitehead, formerly homeless and now Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
"Punishing homeless Americans for living in public- when thousands literally have no other alternative- is inhumane, immoral, and unjust- - and it just won’t work. What will work is affordable housing, healthcare, and
living-wage jobs," said Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.
Paul Boden, Director of the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness explains, "Homeless peoples' organizations are becoming stronger and united to defend our rights to housing, treatment, living wage jobs, and quality education. People who are homeless will not disappear or cease to exist."
Since 1979, over $28 billion has been cut from the Federal housing budget, and advocates note that homelessness has risen in direct proportion to these cuts. In a country where there is no jurisdiction where minimum wage earners can afford the lowest Fair Market Rent, and where rates of homelessness are rapidly growing, it is increasingly difficult for many to avoid jail as a substitute for housing. "In Atlanta, a city with no public toilets, people who are homeless are jailed for public urination, and forced to work free," asserted Anita Beaty, Director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless.
Since the best solution to these civil rights abuses directed at homeless people is housing, it is imperative to support ambitious efforts to build more affordable housing. The National Affordable Housing Trust fund (HR2340 and S1249) is one such effort. Locally, the San Francisco Organizing Project has proposed a local affordable housing construction bond, and Senator John Burton has proposed a measure on the State level.
80 communities documented in the report, Illegal to be Homeless: The Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States, published by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty:
Albuquerque, NM
Anchorage, AK
Athens, GA
Atlanta, GA
Atlantic City, NJ
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Buena Park, CA
Buffalo, NY
Charleston, SC
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Colorado Springs, CO
Columbus, OH
Covington, KY
Dallas, TX
Decatur, GA
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
El Paso, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Fresno, CA
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Jacksonville, FL
Jeffersonville, IN
Kansas City, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Lexington, KY
Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Louisville, KY
Lynnwood, WA
Memphis, TN
Mesa, AZ
Miami, FL
Milwaukee, WI
Minneapolis, MN
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Norfolk, VA
Oakland, CA
Oklahoma City, OK
Omaha, NE
Palm Beach County, FL
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Pontiac, MI
Portland, ME
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
Reno, NV
Rio Piedras, PR
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
San Angelo, TX
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
San Juan, PR
Santa Cruz, CA
Santurce, PR
Seattle, WA
Sioux Falls, SD
St. Louis, MO
Toledo, OH
Trenton, NJ
Tucson, AZ
Tulsa, OK
Valdosta, GA
Virginia Beach, VA
Washington, DC
Wheeling, WV
National Coalition for the Homeless
012 14th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005-3406
202-737-6444#14 - dwhitehead [at] nationalhomeless.org
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
1411 K Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005-3406
202-638-2535 - info [at] nlchp.org
--
Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco
468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
415/346.3740-voice • 415/7755639-fax
coh [at] sf-homeless-coalition.org
http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org
For more information:
http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org
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http://www.nationalhomeless.org/criminalizationrelease.html
Most of those who we "term" homeless really need help. San Francisco is a "compassionate" city and has always been one. We keep hearing the City of San Francisco spends over $40.000 on each homeless person. Let us have the break down - where all this money goes. Many of the homeless need medical attention. Many have fallen prey to substance abuse.
Others have fallen prey to plain "bad luck". And of course they are a few - very few who want to be on the street - because they say they want to be there. Now, what we need is to address the problem in a practical way. We need to go to St. Anthony's, the Salvation Army, St. Martin, and ask the experts to come out with solutions. Politicians cannot come out with solutions. The only solution they know is "greed" and how to fill their pockets. How many shelters do we have for women and children? How many of them are decent?
How many of them have access to basic medical care? How many of them serve hot meals? You cannot solve this problem by making poor people pay fines. Sending them to jails. Telling them not to do something - without offering practical and long term solutions. We should begin by funding the existing infrastructure to help those in need Glide, St. Anthony's, St. Martin, St Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army - many small social organizations who are doing a good job. Give the money to those who have a heart and not to those who are "mean".