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Showing Original Post only (View all)10 Unbelievably Sh**ty Things America Does to Homeless People [View all]
http://www.alternet.org/story/154830/10_unbelievably_sh**ty_things_america_does_to_homeless_people1. Outlawing sitting down. People are allowed to exist in public, but sometimes the homeless make that civic rule inconvenient, like when their presence perturbs tourists or slows the spread of gentrification. One solution to this problem is the "sit-lie" law, a bizarrely authoritarian measure that bans sitting or resting in a public space. The law is clearly designed to empower police to chase homeless people out of nice neighborhoods, rather than protect cities from the blight of public sidewalk-sitting.
***SNIP
2. Denying people access to shelters. In November the Bloomberg administration tried to institute new rules that would force shelters to deny applicants who failed to prove they had no other housing options, like staying with relatives or friends (NYC's overcrowded shelters being so appealing that people with access to housing are desperate to sneak in).
***SNIP
3. Making it illegal to give people food. Two weeks ago, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter announced a citywide ban on giving food to the hungry in public parks. Amidst outcry by homelessness advocates and religious and charity groups, Nutter insisted the policy is meant to draw unhoused people to indoor facilities where they might benefit from medical care and mental health services. Critics pointed out that the policy -- rushed to go into effect in 29 days -- may have more to do with planned renovation of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the construction of a new museum, as Isaiah Thompson reported in the Philadelphia City Paper.
***SNIP
4. Installing obstacles to prevent sleeping or sitting. Many cities have invested in their homeless torture infrastructure, spending thousands to install obstacles preventing the homeless from sleeping, standing, or sitting in parks, under bridges and next to public transportation.
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The Portland OR city council is considering a program to purchase micro-houses for the homeless.
Maedhros
Sep 2014
#60
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor . . .
Journeyman
Sep 2014
#7
Homeless torture infrastructure.... "Coin-op benches with retractable homeless spikes"
NYC_SKP
Sep 2014
#4
China and London are among the places we find these, but NYC has had them for 100+ yrs.
NYC_SKP
Sep 2014
#56
And yet some people don't understand the utter terror that possibly becoming homeless holds. n/t
ColesCountyDem
Sep 2014
#13
There isn't a Hell hot enough for those who would bleed it out of the homeless...
Aristus
Sep 2014
#14
That is the function of right-wing demagogues like Reagan, Limbaugh and O'Reilly.
Maedhros
Sep 2014
#61
Long ago, I read that the #of SRO hotel rooms that had been taken off the market
Bette Noir
Sep 2014
#34
Yup, and many end up in prison, which costs us way more than housing the homeless would. nt
SunSeeker
Sep 2014
#40