Treatment of Poor is Cruel but Not Unusual

by Alex Cuff/PNN Newsbrief Editor

The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit on February 19th accusing the city of Los Angeles of cruel and unusual punishment for ticketing and arresting people, who sit, sleep or lie on public sidewalks at night. The ordinance which has led to increased arrests and citations prohibits “sitting, lying or sleeping on any public sidewalk, street alley or other public way at anytime anywhere in the city”. It does nothing to provide housing or mental health services to the persons who are being “moved on” – the idea is to put the persons without homes out of view of the public.

Although this harassment by the city is certainly cruel, it’s unfortunately not so unusual. The criminalization of persons without houses is an epidemic. One day after the suit was filed, persons sleeping on Towne Avenue between 4th and 5th Streets were woken by Los Angeles police officers, told to ‘move on’ and then watched as all of their belongings were swept into a pile and hauled off to a dump.

LA City Councilwoman, Jan Perry, whose district includes skid row, says efforts are necessary: “I morally cannot support a street culture that allows behavior that is self-destructive to the individual and harmful to the community. I think it’s unhealthy and it’s degrading.” Unhealthy and degrading for who? The business interests downtown who are in full support of the ordinance?

Penalties for violating the ordinance can include fines or jail time. For a homeless person living on assistance of no more than $220 a month, paying a fine would mean nothing left for food or shelter. Patricia and George Vinson were cited in December for sleeping on the street. The missed the bus that would have taken them to a shelter in South Los Angeles and had no money for a hotel. The lawsuit being filed by the ACLU seeks to prohibit the enforcement of the ordinance from 9pm to 6:30am and any time of the day or night when a person suffers from a medical condition.