What's the Meanest City?

by Dollars and Sense

Los Angeles is #1, according to The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) -- #1 in criminalizing the homeless. The two organizations released a report on Monday analyzing how cities target homeless people, such as laws against sleeping, eating, or sitting in public spaces.

The report, titled "Homes Not Handcuffs," includes information about 273 U.S. cities. It also ranks the top 10 U.S. cities with the worst practices of criminalizing homelessness. Top 10 lists are always easier for the mainstream media to comprehend, so that's been the story for the few media outlets that have covered the report (Reuters reporter Steve Gorman's article is the best we've seen so far; it's also republished on Common Dreams).

The full report explains how the growing numbers of urban homeless have been targeted for criminalization, how their civil rights have been violated in some cases, and detailed summaries of legal cases against some of the most abusive anti-homeless laws.

And in case you want to know, the "Top Ten Meanest Cities" are:
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. St. Petersburg, FL
3. Orlando, FL
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Gainesville, FL
6. Kalamazoo, MI
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Honolulu, HI
9. Bradenton, FL
10. Berkeley, CA

Berkeley???

On June 12, 2007, Berkeley's City Council unanimously passed the "Public Commons for Everyone" initiative to "clear the streets of aggressive and disruptive behavior." This law targets a wide range of behavior, including lying on or blocking the sidewalk, smoking near doorways, having a shopping cart, tying animals to fixed objects, littering, drinking in public, public urination and defecation and shouting in public. ... Osha Neumann, an attorney who defends homeless individuals, told Indybay.org that homeless people are frightened by these measures and many are thinking about leaving town. He also indicated that funding for meals and other services for homeless people have been reduced, and there are not enough shelter beds.

Read the full report.

Labels: homelessness, Homes Not Handcuffs, meanest cities

 

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7/15/2009 02:42:00 PM