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People
Need Their Civil Rights Protected.
-People
should not be criminalized or face injustice as a result of their
housing status.
-People should have the right to vote regardless of housing status.
(click
here to download this factsheet in .pdf format)
People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately victims
of hate crimes and violence, often resulting in death.
- From 1999 through 2002 there have been 211 acts of violence
against people experiencing homelessness.
- Of these 211 acts of violence, 122 were nonlethal and 89 resulting
in death. These incidents took place in 97 different cities from
34 states and Puerto Rico (National Coalition for the Homeless
(NCH), 2003).
- The overwhelming majority of perpetrators were teens and young
adults.
Communities are diverting scarce resources from solutions for
homelessness to criminalization.
- The cost of arresting, processing and jailing homeless people
is higher than the cost of creating housing.
- Although few communities have committed resources to tracking
arrests by housing status, in Atlanta alone, 18,000 to 19,000
people were cited for "quality of life" violations annually,
and 43,000 were cited in one year in San Francisco.
- People experiencing homelessness in Baltimore spend an average
of 35 days per year in jail.
- Criminalization of homelessness leads to increased barriers
to accessing shelter and housing due to a criminal record.
- People experiencing homelessness often plead "no contest"
instead of "not guilty" to get off with time served,
due to lack of legal representation and a lack of knowledge of
their rights (National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), 2002).
The systematic abuse of the civil rights of people experiencing
homelessness is used as a strategy to remove homeless people from
sight by local governments and private business districts.
- 80% of 80 surveyed communities have laws that prohibit sleeping/camping
in public space (NCH, 2002). Meanwhile, 100% of communities surveyed
lack enough shelter beds to meet demand.
- Community revitalization efforts have led to increased incidences
of policing to remove homeless people from gentrified areas and
tourist spots. Business Improvement Districts often hire private
security guards to restrict access to areas of the community based
on economic profiling.
- Existing laws are selectively enforced, and new laws are created
with the goal of moving people experiencing homelessness out of
certain areas.
- Sweeps before sporting or political events are happening.
- Fines from $50 to $2,000 are being imposed on the poorest of
our communities because they lack housing, and without the ability
to pay, fines result in jail time.
- Police often wake people who are sleeping outside with nowhere
to go, ordering them to "move along."
- People experiencing homeless report incidences of police brutality
in communities nationwide (NCH, 2002).
Access to public space for people experiencing homelessness
is being restricted.
- Public parks are being designated as "family parks"
disallowing individuals without children.
- Communities invest public money to insert bars in the middle
of park benches to prohibit people from lying down on them.
- People are being banned from designated neighborhoods altogether
in some cities (NCH, 2002).
100% of communities lack enough shelter beds to meet demand
and housing costs are out of reach for many, including the working
poor.
- People experiencing homelessness are being arrested for camping
or sleeping outside even though there are not an adequate number
of shelter beds in any city nationwide.
- 30% of those people seeking shelter are unable to access it
(U.S. Conference of Mayors 2002).
- Mental health and drug courts further restrict access to shelter
and programs for the general population because beds are set aside
for sentencing.
sources
Civil
Rights Elements of the Bringing America Home
Campaign include:
- Civil
Rights Protections for People Experiencing Homelessness
Legislation to prevent the criminalization of homelessness is
included in the Bringing America Home Act. In addition, NCH calls
on Congress to ensure that no voting qualification or prerequisite
to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed
or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge
the right of any citizen of the United States to vote because
that citizen resides at or in a nontraditional abode. NCH also
calls on Congress for a GAO investigation and subsequent report
into the nature and scope of violent acts and crimes that occur
against people experiencing homelessness.
- Civil
Rights Provisions of the Bringing America
Home Act:
- A
requirement under the selection criteria of HUD McKinney-Vento
that communities receiving homeless assistance dollars
would certify they are not criminalizing homelessness through
laws and ordinances;
- A
requirement that cities receiving CDBG and HOME funds shall
not pass ordinances that have a disparate impact on homeless
people or that punish homeless persons for carrying out life-sustaining
practices in public spaces when no alternative public
spaces are available; or relating to curfews or runaways and
that result in homeless youths being adjudicated delinquent.
- A
requirement that cities receiving CDBG, and HOME funds shall
not pass zoning ordinances / make zoning decisions that have
the effect of preventing the siting of facilities designed
to serve people in homeless situations or low-income people.
- A
requirement that USPS shall provide no-fee PO boxes, subject
to availability, to homeless persons within the zip code area
of the location to which they regularly return.
Sources:
National Coalition for the Homeless. 2003. Hate,
Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes
and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2002. Available
from the National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P St NW, Washington,
DC 20037, Phone: 202.462.4822 | Fax: 202.462.4823, www.nationalhomeless.org.
National Coalition for the Homeless. 2002. Illegal
to be Homeless: The Criminalization of Homelessness in the U.S.
2002. Available from the National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201
P St NW, Washington, DC 20037, Phone: 202.462.4822 | Fax: 202.462.4823,
www.nationalhomeless.org.
U.S. Conference of Mayors. A Status Report on Hunger
and Homelessness in America's Cities: 2002. Available for $15.00
from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1620 Eye St., NW, 4th Floor,
Washington, DC, 20006-4005, 202/293-7330, www.usmayors.org.
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