A Law to Criminalize Sleep?

[RLF]

As winter approaches and the Santa Cruz homeless shelter at the armory opens, many are discussing the Santa Cruz sleeping ban.

According to attorney Kate Wells and members of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the law is “a human rights violation which criminalizes homelessness.”

The camping ban, commonly called the sleeping ban, or blanket ban, prohibits sleeping on public property between the hours of 11 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. It is also against the law to set up cooking equipment, or to cover oneself at night with the intention of sleeping.

As humans, how can we allow this to happen to homeless women and children ?

Read More:
http://reddingloavesandfishes.com/forum/index.php?topic=639.0

 

[9sublime]

It should be allowed to be a law, as long as some kind of alternative place to sleep is provided for the homeless, wouldn't you agree?

 

[dahermit]

NO!

It should be allowed to be a law, as long as some kind of alternative place to sleep is provided for the homeless, wouldn't you agree?

NO. In the US homeless shelters are notorious for crime; many homeless feel that sleeping in the open is safer. Also, sometimes the homeless shelters are full and everyone cannot get in...especially in cold weather.
Banning people from living "rough", just moves them to a different area.

 

[Segep]

As one who was once homeless in Santa Cruz when that sleeping ban first went into effect, the sleeping ban is one of the most callous things I've ever heard of or experienced. It sucks enough being homeless without having to worry that you'll be arrested and have to pay a fine with money you don't have.

 

[9sublime]

My point is the law seems reasonable to me, as long as the government provides enough adequate place for homless people to go to, and it must be a safe environment. However, it obviously isn't going to build these sorts of facilities with the introduction of this new law, so this law is totally unreasonable.

Not to mention I don't actually support the government making laws like this which infringe unneccessarily on people's civil and personal liberties and freedoms.