08-13-2015, 05:24 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkb...nment-says
...when adequate shelter space does not exist, there is no meaningful distinction between the status of being homeless and the conduct of sleeping in public. Sleeping is a life-sustaining activity -- i.e., it must occur at some time in some place. If a person literally has nowhere else to go, then enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance against that person criminalizes her for being homeless.
Thus far, it's just a DOJ "statement of interest" in an obscure case in Boise, ID ... but it's going to have a very interesting impact on any laws that apply to the homeless.
...when adequate shelter space does not exist, there is no meaningful distinction between the status of being homeless and the conduct of sleeping in public. Sleeping is a life-sustaining activity -- i.e., it must occur at some time in some place. If a person literally has nowhere else to go, then enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance against that person criminalizes her for being homeless.
Thus far, it's just a DOJ "statement of interest" in an obscure case in Boise, ID ... but it's going to have a very interesting impact on any laws that apply to the homeless.