Opinion: Criminalizing poverty is the real crime in America

[Lady Freedom Returns]

In the Times-Standard
By Tim Martin/My Word
Posted:05/29/2013 02:32:16 AM PDT

According to a study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, America's “meanest” cities include San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. The study also found that the number of ordinances against the publicly poor is on the rise, including ticketing and arrests for more “neutral” infractions like jaywalking, littering or carrying an open container of alcohol.

The not-so-bright idea of community leaders is to curtail financing for services that might help the poor, shut down public housing, and make it a crime to be homeless, thereby ridding themselves of these awful poverty-stricken people.

The result is a staggering level of incarceration, the highest in the world. Today the same number of Americans -- 2.3 million -- reside in prison as in public housing, according to author and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich. Ask yourself this: If we can't afford to help the poor, how is it we afford to imprison them?

We should be ashamed for trying to solve homelessness by criminalizing it. Every city in the U.S. needs to set aside room for the destitute. And the federal government should help. Why? Because it's the right thing to do. Would you allow your own family to go without in order to buy guns and planes for your neighbors?

Please read full article @ http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/ci_23343227/criminalizing-poverty-is-real-crime-america