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Results for vagrancy laws

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Author: University of California School of Law - Berkeley. Policy Advocacy Clinic

Title: California's New Vagrancy Laws: The Growing Enactment and Enforcement of Anti - Homeless Laws in the Golden State

Summary: Executive Summary More than one in five people who are homeless in the United States live in California, and two - thirds of all people experiencing homelessness in California are unsheltered. Although homelessness exists statewide - exacerbated by decades of deep cuts to federal a nd state funding for affordable housing and by rising inequality - it is managed mostly at the local l evel. The state legislature has been slow to respond to this widespread problem, forcing municipal governments to address homelessness often with l imited resources. While some local governments have invested in social services, shelters , and supportive housing, cities have also responded by enacting and enforcing a wide range of anti - homeless laws - municipal codes that target or disproportionately impact people experiencing homelessness . Fortunately , t he conversation about homelessness has begun to shift in California. In the past year, San Francisco announced plans to create and fund a new Department on Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose each declared a shelter crisis . A nd Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti asked the Governor to declare a homeless state of emergency . 2 When Mayor Garcetti held a press conference on the city's homeless crisis in late 2015, Los Angeles Councilmember Jose Huizar explained : Unless we change our approach, this crisis will continue to worsen.... This approach to homelessness has failed. We can't ignore the problem, and we can't arrest our way out of it. W hile t his shift in rhetoric is a notable development, evidence suggests that California cities continue to pursue inhumane , ineffec tive , and costly policies that criminaliz e homeless people. This report update s our 2015 study on the enactment and enforcement of anti - homeless laws in California with new ordinance data from cities and updated arrest data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program. We find that California cities are enact ing and enforc ing anti - homeless laws in record numbers. In contrast with historical post - recession trends , arrests of people who are homeless continue to rise in spite of an improving economy. Further, cities appear to be arresting people increasingly based on their homeless status as opposed t o any concrete unlawful behavior.

Details: Berkeley, CA: Policy Advocacy Clinic, 2016. 13p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 3, 2016 at: http://wraphome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NVL-Update-2016_Final.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: United States

URL: http://wraphome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NVL-Update-2016_Final.pdf

Shelf Number: 140147

Keywords:
Homeless Persons
Homelessness
Vagrancy Laws
Vagrants