Ordinances like the one in Boise are actually quite common-a study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which surveyed 187 U.S. cities, found that 34 percent of the cities had citywide bans on camping in public and 18 percent ban sleeping in public. By weighing in on this case, the Justice Department’s first foray in two decades into this still-unsettled area of law, the federal government is warning cities far beyond Boise and backing up federal goals to treat homelessness more humanely. According to the Justice Department, rendering it illegal for people to sleep outside when there is not enough room in homeless shelters constitutes a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which protects people from cruel and unusual punishment. Sleep is a life-sustaining activity – i.e., it must occur at some time in some place. Some criminalize homelessness by arresting homeless people for sleeping outside-alleging that they’re violating anti-camping ordinances. That case, Jones v. The City of Los Angeles, focused on whether the city’s homeless had alternatives to sleeping in public spaces.
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It also does nothing to solve homelessness. All of these laws criminalize the kind of activities – sitting, resting, sleeping – that are arguably fundamental to human existence. “Criminally prosecuting those individuals for something as innocent as sleeping, when they have no safe, legal place to go, violates their constitutional rights”. A reason might be that elected officials find it easier to argue for criminal penalties than investing in shelters or services for the poor when talking about costs, says Eric Tars, a senior attorney for the NLCHP.
Amber Miller, spokesman for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, echoed Boulder’s statement, saying the ordinance applies to everyone, not just the homeless.
Criminal citations also compound the problem of homelessness, making it harder for people to qualify for jobs or housing in the future.
Regina Huerter, executive director of Denver’s Crime Prevention and Control Commission, told a House committee in April that homeless people get a ticket only after they’ve refused services, including direction to temporary housing, as well as mental health and substance abuse treatment, from officers trained in dealing with homelessness. Although the DOJ did not weigh in on the specific facts of the Boise case, it did recommend a better way of evaluating laws that ban camping and sleeping in public.
“The only way to end homelessness is to make sure everybody has access to affordable, decent housing”, Tars says.
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“We do not believe this bill helps the homeless”, she said of House Bill 1264.
