Homeless and Sleeping

Photo credit: MART PRODUCTION

Last week the Supreme Court ruled that every state in America can fine, ticket, or arrest homeless people for sleeping in public places. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

And while this may sound like the premise for a dystopian fiction movie or novel, it is real. 

So, in addition to being homeless and hungry and ostracized and ignored, you now are not allowed to sleep. And while homeless shelters are available to some homeless people in some cities, there are not enough shelters to accommodate all. 

Cruel and unusual punishment? The Supreme Court says it's not.

In addition to criminalizing sleeping while homeless, this decision also sets up housed people for scrutiny by the police by allowing them to use this new law to identify, question, and investigate people who happen to be sleeping in their car, at the park, at rest stops, at the beach, on the side of the road, during their lunch break, etc. for any reason, whether they are homeless or not. 

As someone who worked overnight shifts for many years, I can tell you that I was too exhausted to drive all the way home on some mornings and I pulled off the road and slept in my car for a few hours. I call this being a responsible driver, but the police will now call it "Are you homeless and Show me your ID and show me proof of your residence and the 4th Amendment doesn't matter."

So not only has the highest court in the land made life even harder for homeless people, they have moved our society even closer to a police state than it already is. 

We should strive to make life easier for people less fortunate than us. Not harder.

 

Source:  https://endhomelessness.org/blog/the-supreme-court-rules-on-homelessness-what-it-all-means/