Homeless musicians Anna Richardson and Miguel de Leon face 15 days in jail, 240 hours of community service, and fines of thousands of dollars for violating a court order banning them from sleeping at night after 11pm (the City's Sleeping Ban) in the downtown area of Santa Cruz. A contempt of court hearing is being held on Friday, March 19th at 9am, three months before the formal hearing on a permanent injunction.

They were cited, but not convicted, for lying on blankets, or sleeping during the day, on three occasions -- in October 2009, January 2010, and February 2010. The evidence against them are police reports. Santa Cruz has no legal sleeping place for 90% of its homeless population. It provides $90+ fines for sleeping on any public property after 11pm or camping ("with the intent to remain in that location overnight").

Robert Norse says, "Richardson and de Leon have been singled out for harassment in a high-profile campaign by City Attorney John Barisone, the Downtown Association, and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

"They continue to defy this attempt to run them out of town by continuing to play music lawfully downtown and use the public spaces there."

Anna and Miguel encourage everyone to join them at 9 AM on Friday morning in court to show a Judge, likely to be swayed by the city authorities, that the community is watching.

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