Rodney Cole To S. Saunders Sep 6 at 5:49 PM A Report by The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and The National Coalition for the Homeless: Since many cities do not have adequate shelter space, homeless persons are often left with no alternative but to sleep and live in public spaces, such as sidewalks and parks. Even though they are not dedicating enough resources to give homeless persons access to housing or shelters, some cities have enacted laws that impose criminal penalties upon people for sleeping outside. The practice of punishing people for sleeping outside has been challenged in courts as a violation of homeless persons’ civil rights. Some courts have found that arresting homeless people for sleeping outside when no shelter space exists violates their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.33 Advocates also have contended that arresting people for sleeping outside violates the fundamental right to travel. In at least one case, a court found that if people are arrested for sleeping in public, those arrests have the effect of preventing homeless people from moving within a city or coming to a city, thereby interfering with their right to travel.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 10:22:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015