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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMiami Considers Jailing Homeless People For Eating, Sleeping In Public
Being poor could soon be a crime in the city of Miami.
As though life werent already difficult enough for people who cant afford regular housing, they could soon find themselves thrown in jail and their possessions confiscated if theyre caught engaging in certain everyday activities in public."
*Before the late 1990s, Miami police frequently arrested homeless people for such crimes as sleeping on park benches, eating on sidewalks, or congregating in public places.
But in 1998, the city of Miami came to a landmark agreement, known as Pottinger v. City of Miami, whereby police officers were instructed not to arrest homeless people they caught committing minor quality of life offenses, but instead offer them a bed in a nearby homeless shelter. This new emphasis on providing homeless people with housing has been remarkably successful. In the 15 years since Pottinger, the number of people living on the streets has dropped from approximately 6,000 to 351, largely due to more shelters and support.
Despite the programs success, one Miami City Commissioner wants to back out of the deal and resume arresting homeless people for living on the streets."
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/16/2307891/miami-criminalize-homelessness/?mobile=nc
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)given it's Miami, not surprising.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)How Christian of them.
House of Roberts
(5,184 posts)Breathing without visible means of support?
Rex
(65,616 posts)in funds to house and feed them? Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to help them find a job and shelter...outside the penal system?
LiberalLoner
(9,762 posts)Of the poorest 25 percent of the nation.
they'll be charged for their meals and sleeping quarters. If they can't make that, they'll just be kept in jail and never get out.
Who is running the jails in Miami at this point? Here in Pinellas County the sheriff still does the actual guard duties but something called C4C (?) runs the medical, the cafeterias, and transport vans.
Gotta keep them beds full to get the full benefit of tax dollar profit, ya know.
Mika
(17,751 posts)Miami's impoverished working class will pay.
Turbineguy
(37,369 posts)in a republican way.
It would cost less to provide them with housing and modest living expenses.