AS IF BEING HOMELESS ENOUGH

AS IF BEING HOMELESS ENOUGH

Homeless people with no other place to go must live in public places. Unfortunately, instead of providing housing and other help to homeless people, cities across the country are making this behavior illegal – often sending homeless people to jail, and destroying their personal possessions, for the "crime" of trying to survive outdoors. 

Many cities misguidedly conduct homeless sweeps, where police officers seize and destroy the personal property of homeless persons. Such property often includes food, clothing, medicine, identification, and irreplaceable photographs or other personal items. Courts in San Diego, Sacramento, and Anchorage have ruled in favor of homeless people challenging these sweeps as due process violations or illegal seizures. In these cases, courts have both awarded damages and required cities to adopt new policies that require proper notice before sweeps take place, along with provisions for the storage of personal property so that homeless persons may retrieve it later.