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Homeless Being Persecuted in American Cities |
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Contributed by Jim Elliott
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Wednesday, 07 July 2010 |
On November 2009, a homeless man named David Madison was trying to get into a Boulder, Colorado shelter. But unfortunately it was full. So without any place to go, he opted to put down his sleeping bag to protect him from the cold. It was going to be a cold night at -12 degrees.Celsius.
He was then approached by the police, but rather than giving him assistance, he was ticketed for "camping". Now our idea of camping would not fit with what David was doing. David didn't have a campfire. He didn't have an idealic wilderness scene around him.
But in Boulder has on its books a thinly veiled anti-homelessness law
that says that sleeping outdoors with "shelter" of any form, including a
sleeping bag or even a blanket, constitutes illegal camping. So David
is now among 1,600 people ticketed in the last 4 years. He is now
expected to pay their fine and show up for court hearings. Many don't
so they are arrested and spend 2 days in jail. The taxpayers are therefore spending their hard earned tax dollars on putting the homeless in jail while not really solving the problem.
Efforts are being taken to get rid of this ordinance. But this is not
the only place where homeless are being persecuted. Miami is
prohibiting the public from feeding the homeless. Venice Beach police
regularly chase homeless people from their beach after midnight. San
Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom continues to push for an ordinance that
would ban sitting on city sidewalks.Only registered users can write comments.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 08 July 2010 )
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