Being Homeless Is A Crime!

Culture wars are the common theme of Republicans. They often scapegoat the vulnerable in their attempts to undermine democracy. Contemporary wedge issues include abortion, homosexuality, transgender rights, pornography, multiculturalism, racism, homelessness and other cultural conflicts based on values, morality, and lifestyle which are described as the major political cleavage.

They seriously believe crime is the fault of Democrats and the policies of liberal governments. The very same folks who refuse to curb gun violence and political extremism are willing to find some unjustified outrage over an issue that has long plagued America's founding. 

Living in hotels, living under highways, living under bridges, living in vacant buildings, sleeping at bus stops, sleeping at train stations, sleeping in stairwells and sleeping in parks could be a crime now.

City governments in certain areas are cracking down on homelessness.

Federal data shows 582,462 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2022. Experts warn more people will enter homelessness as housing costs increase, as has been the case for decades in cities such as New York and in much of California.

Behaviors that can be penalized under this system can include sleeping, resting, actively or passively requesting donations, jaywalking, and even simply existing in public (sometimes known as “loitering”). When their existence is considered a crime, people experiencing homelessness can be punished with expensive tickets and citations, “sweeps” which force them to evacuate the areas they’ve come to know as a home, and even arrest and incarceration.

Republicans need to focus on real issues but alas, they won't.

Unsheltered homeless people have a much higher than average rate of interaction with police officers. One recent analysis suggests that a person living outdoors was likely to encounter police more than twenty times in a single six-month period. The result of this, rather than improved conditions or returns to housing, is that people experiencing unsheltered homelessness are much more likely than others to become victims of police violence.

This has very implications when it comes to race. Black people make up forty percent of the homeless population, and about half of the unsheltered homeless population. Moreover, the data consistently indicates Black people are three times more likely than average to experience violence at the hands of police. This makes the link between unsheltered homelessness and police violence, and the need to undo criminalization, even clearer.

One of the most effective ways to immediately make life safer for unsheltered people, and to avoid the dangers listed above, is to dismantle the systemic criminalization of homelessness. Reducing the number of interactions between homeless people and police, reducing the number of local ordinances penalizing life-sustaining activities, and replacing criminalization tactics with housing and services can be the difference between life and death for many.