“They arrested a homeless man in a shelter for being homeless.”

[kpete]

Op-Ed Contributor
Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?

By BARBARA EHRENREICH
Published: August 8, 2009

.............

... It turned out that Mr. Szekely, who is an ordained minister and does not drink, do drugs or curse in front of ladies, did indeed have a warrant — for not appearing in court to face a charge of “criminal trespassing” (for sleeping on a sidewalk in a Washington suburb). So he was dragged out of the shelter and put in jail. “Can you imagine?” asked Eric Sheptock, the homeless advocate (himself a shelter resident) who introduced me to Mr. Szekely. “They arrested a homeless man in a shelter for being homeless.”

The viciousness of the official animus toward the indigent can be breathtaking. A few years ago, a group called Food Not Bombs started handing out free vegan food to hungry people in public parks around the nation. A number of cities, led by Las Vegas, passed ordinances forbidding the sharing of food with the indigent in public places, and several members of the group were arrested. A federal judge just overturned the anti-sharing law in Orlando, Fla., but the city is appealing. And now Middletown, Conn., is cracking down on food sharing.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09ehrenreich.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

[ejpoeta]

1. yes, let's not feed the homeless... is that the theory like with stray cats...

if you feed them they will never leave!! it's just sad and sick. how many of us could be homeless!! how many of us are two paychecks away from living in our car or on the streets!!

[Odin2005]

2. That's just evil.

:grr:

[givemebackmycountry]

3. I'm SO happy I live in such a moral, god fearin' country..

You know, with all those good god fearin' people.
You know, we're a Christian country.

I hear that a lot.

AND we hate those that are suffering, and save for a bad break, many of us could all be one of them.

People forget that kind of shit.

Often.

[atreides1]

4. Of Course they Fear God

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

[nosmokes]

5. Bring back the work-houses and debtors prison. Dickens's nightmare is a

corpororatist's wet-dream.

[Birthmark]

6. I'm almost sure that Jesus said...

...something about needing to shun the poor and let them starve to death whenever possible. Did I get that right? :sarcasm:

[nosmokes]

7. kick- this thread needs more love

[ThomCat]

8. There are many people here at DU who defend, and have defended

the policies of not feeding the homeless, and not letting the homeless congregate and sleep in public places. This has been argued and debated many times. There are always people who just don't want the homeless anyplace near them, and think that any law targeting the homeless must have a perfectly good and valid reason behind it so it's just fine.

Having been homeless, and having volunteered feeding homeless people, I've been told that feeding homeless people is so horribly wrong because we didn't use an inspected restaurant kitchen, or take courses in food handling and safety, etc. How irresponsible! We were volunteers making sandwiches in our own kitchens and then walking around the city handing them out to hungry people.

This is a really good article on the spiraling link between poverty, criminality and homelessness. I always love Barbara Ehrenreich's writing about poverty.

[arcadian]

15. Those posters shouldn't have a home on DU.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Agreed

[anonymous171]

9. This is just insane. What is wrong with our nation's values?

[opihimoimoi]

10. The Lack of EMPATHY has reached APPALING HEIGHTS...WTF happened to PITY?

[Ignis]

14. "Empathy" is now a bad word to the Wingnuts.

Pretty amazing for a group that overlaps heavily with a (supposedly) Christian demographic, isn't it?

[opihimoimoi]

22. LOE is so UnChristian...No to Compassion?? How Friendly/Sensitive is That?

[Echo In Light]

11. So...I don't get it. WHY on earth would they NOT taser the homeless?

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. According to the facts presented the article, he was arrested for not appearing in court, not

for being homeless.

[ThomCat]

16. He was supposed to appear in court because he had a summons

for sleeping in public (because he was homeless). But if he's homeless then where do they mail the summons so that he knows when to appear in court?

If he doesn't get the summons and doesn't know when to appear in court, then how do they expect him to show up?

If he had a home that wouldn't happen. It is because he's homeless that he wouldn't get mail telling him when to appear in court.

I hope most people read the article and get that connection.

[Ocracoker16]

17. you have a very important point about how his homelessness was a major reason for not showing up

[Kingofalldems]

19. Republican posing as a blue dog knew exactly

what was going on.

[rhett o rick]

26. Sticking up for the establishment once again. Funny thing is he probably appreciated

going to jail. They have free dentistry there. Some homeless get arrested on purpose to get their teeth fixed.

Jokes on you.

[Rex]

13. Well ya know, helping the homeless is NOT the American way.

The American way is stepping over a dying person to grab a buck.

[Gman]

18. Some places have ordinances against feeding the pigeons

I guess they think people are nuisances like pigeons.

What makes people be like this? I need something real strong to restore my faith in people. I've been losing it in the last week or so.

[Wednesdays]

21. K&R

:kick:

[Boojatta]

23. Doesn't that make public housing more workplace-like?

Meanwhile, the public housing that remains has become ever more prison-like, with residents subjected to drug testing and random police sweeps.

[troubledamerican]

24. This is fairly common. Most homeless shelters have 30-day limits.

[Uncle Joe]

25. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[timtom]

27. K & R!!

This makes my blood boil! As someone said in this thread, the American way is to step over a dying person to grab a buck.

Thanx to Rex for the phrase.

[mdmc]

28. kick