Criminalizing Homelessness -Two examples
The Crime of Pushing a Shopping Cart
Mike Rhodes
September 19, 2006
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/19/18312750.php
The City of Fresno is in the process of adopting an ordinance that would make it
a crime to be in the possession of a shopping cart. The proposed ordinance (see
below) would criminalize the homeless who use shopping carts as a means of
transporting their possessions. As one person at today’s hearing said, the
ordinance would make it illegal for millionaires to use shopping carts too, but
we all know who this law is targeting. The ordinance, if passed, will subject
any person with a shopping cart that has been removed from a business, to a
$1,000 fine and up to one year in jail. The ordinance is part of an ongoing
attack against this communities homeless population. These attacks have included
the bulldozing of homeless encampments, destruction of homeless persons personal
possessions, an ordinance against aggressive panhandling, and the building of
fences to prevent the homeless from accessing vacant state owned land. For
background information about these attacks see:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/26/18301032.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/05/18294991.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/22/18281976.php
Several speakers at today’s City Council meeting spoke out against the proposed
shopping cart ordinance and linked it to the city’s attack on the homeless.
Harley Turner said “the wheels begin to fall off a city’s government when
elected officials and city managers begin to harass and attack the poor, hungry
and homeless in our city. The City of Oakland attempted to make the homeless
disappear. That didn’t happen and a precedent was set in court to give the
homeless assistance, not taking their life long belongings and kicking them in
the teeth.”
Barbara Hunt, a regular at Fresno City Council meetings asked what happened with
all of the money coming into the city to address the homeless issue. Ms. Hunt
said “we have to protect these homeless, we have to have a place for them to
stay, we’ve got to give them food, we got to get them off the streets.” Hunt
concluded with saying that the city must address the issue of affordable housing
and must provide services for the poor.
Walt Parry, director of Metro Ministry, said “the shopping cart ordinance is
part of a much larger issue.” Parry said that some of the homeless own their own
carts and that the ordinance does not address the private ownership of shopping
carts. The ordinance assumes that all of the shopping carts in town are owned by
businesses. Parry said “we do not have the emergency shelters that we need in
this community...and we need to work on that so long and short term affordable
housing is available. There are also civil liberties issues as to whether a
specific vehicle, a shopping cart, can be determined to be illegal and again,
some people do own their own shopping carts and there have been some churches
that have provided shopping carts to the homeless.” Parry said Metro Ministry
would like to work with the city to look at the situation of the homeless and
work out short and long term solutions.
Chris Schneider, director of Central California Legal Services, also focused on
the big picture that the shopping cart ordinance is a part of. “Last year the
Brookings Institute published Katrina’s Window. The study brought to light that
Fresno has the highest rate of concentrated poverty of all major U.S.
metropolitan areas,” Schneider said. See:
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20051012_concentratedpoverty.htm . “In
second place was pre-Katrina New Orleans.” Schneider said that when the report
was released city officials promised to address the issue but that after a year
he has seen no results. Challenged at this point in his presentation by Council
president Jerry Duncan to address the issue of the shopping cart ordinance,
Schneider replied, “this is about poverty.” Schneider argued that the city
should be developing a plan to address the homeless issue. He said “the recent
actions of the city through the police department, the sanitation department,
and now the city council are directed at eradicating the homeless rather than
eradicating the causes of homelessness.”
Several city council members were upset by the public comments and argued that
they were not against the homeless. Council member Tom Boyajian said “there are
several of us on this board that believe strongly that a lot of the federal
money should be diverted to the poor and the homeless.” Boyajian said Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) money should be used for affordable housing and
jobs for the poor. “Those monies go to the police department and code
enforcement and I’m sick and tired of having people come up here and saying that
some of us don’t care. I care a lot, we advocate until we are blue in the face.”
Boyajian challenged the homeless advocates at the meeting to show up when the
budget is discussed and lobby to have CDBG funds used to help the poor and
homeless.
Cynthia Sterling, who represents the district where many homeless people live,
said she did not see the ordinance as being directed at the homeless. However,
in response to the presentations made before the council by the homeless
advocates, she moved to pull the item from the consent calendar. Sterling said
she was concerned about the possibility that some of the shopping carts might be
the property of homeless people and that the ordinance would violate their
rights.
After the hearing was continued, Sterling said she had checked with the city
attorney and was convinced that the ordinance would not be used to target the
homeless. Deputy Chief Robert Nevarez, from the Fresno Police Department,
assured the council that the ordinance was intended to reduce blight and would
not be directed against the homeless. James Sanchez, the City Attorney agreed,
saying shopping carts that were not identified as belonging to a business would
not be taken from the homeless. Sterling said that “this ordinance repeats State
law” and that the police would not take a cart that was not identifiable.
Following these assurances that the ordinance would not target the homeless,
council member Tom Boyajian said “lets state in the ordinance that it is not
targeting the homeless.” Council member Brian Calhoun, who helped write the
ordinance, objected and said that while the point is not to target the homeless,
he was against including stating that in the ordinance. Council member Larry
Westerlund said that he did not think the homeless were in possession of any of
their own shopping carts and that the ordinance would apply equally to both
millionaires and the homeless. Westerlund said he was offended that people would
say that this was a piece meal attack on the homeless. Earlier, several speakers
had complained about the city’s lack of a plan to address homeless issues and
were concerned that this shopping cart ordinance, a panhandling ordinance, and
razor wire topped fences were an ad hock approach to the problem. Westerlund was
offended at the suggestion.
Sterling moved to approve the ordinance, without changing the wording to say it
would not target the homeless, and it passed unanimously. After 30 days, the
ordinance will become law.
********
War on the Poor. . . Continues in Fresno
Mike Rhodes (editor [at] fresnoalliance.com )
February 5, 2010
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/05/18637084.php
The Fresno City Council has passed, with a 6-1 vote, an ordinance that will
remove homeless people from median islands while allowing established community
groups to continue using the space for their fundraisers. Bill Simon, the
chairperson of the Greater Fresno American Civil Liberties Union, called the
measure discriminatory.
Simon said “perhaps Mr. Westerlund was well intentioned when he proposed this
median safety ordinance, but on its face it has a discriminatory intent and
motive against poor people, especially against the homeless while protecting two
popular fundraisers - The Fresno Bee Day for Children’s Hospital and the
Firefighters fundraiser. But, the equal protection guaranteed by the
Constitution does not allow one set of rules for some people and another set for
others. Equal treatment means everyone or no one. If fundraising on a median is
unsafe for some, then it is unsafe for all.”
Fresno City Council member Larry Westerland defended his ordinance, saying that
if “somebody who wanted to, up to one time every six months, they would be able
to come in and there would be a form they would fill out, a one page form, it
would be like here is my name, here is the median I would like to occupy on this
date, whatever that date would be. We talked about a 48 hour notice before going
out there.” Westerlund’s ordinance would require the applicant to pay a filling
fee, provide proof of insurance, and require the use of a brightly colored vest.
Al Williams, a homeless man who says he uses the median islands to collect
money, said the ordinance would discriminate against the poor. At yesterday’s
City Council meeting, Williams said “you all beg for money when you run for
office. Each of you all do. What makes you better than me? You know, you are a
human being, just like a lot of the people out there are trying to make an
honest dollar. Churches beg for money, Kids Day begs for money and the police
department and the Fire department begs for money, but you want to criminalize a
poor person for asking form money. That is inhumane and despicable.”
The city council voted 6-1 to support the ordinance, with council member Cynthia
Sterling in opposition The measure returns to the City Council on February 11
for final approval. It could go into affect 60 or 90 days after that. But it’s
likely to face a lawsuit. An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of
northern California said “parts of the ordinance are likely invalid because they
conflict with the California Vehicle Code.” A 2005 Brookings Institute report
showed that Fresno has the highest concentration of poverty in the country. The
“official” unemployment rate is currently 16.8%
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/homeles...