February 2021
Right to Housing:
a Civil Rights Newsletter
Racial Equity
Amid all the unrest in the United States over racial justice issues in 2020, Kurt Reinhold, 42, was killed by Orange County Sheriffs on September 23, 2020. The dashcam video, motel surveillance, and a pedestrian’s cell phone video were all made public over the last week. Reinhold was stopped for jaywalking while in San Clemente California at 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon. Officers claim that Reinhold was attempting to grab for their gun, but the video is too blurry to make that assessment. Reinhold’s family members claim that this is an obvious example of officers stopping a man for walking while black. The deputies were part of the homeless outreach team and Reinhold’s family said that Kurt suffered from a mental illness. The death did set off protests, but the officers involved have not been disciplined.
Interactions with Police: Sweeps
We could provide an entire page worth of news stories about sweeps of encampments, despite multiple court cases that restrict ticketing and arrests of people living outside. Even with a deadly pandemic, communities are still sending out law enforcement to arrest or ticket individuals sleeping outside. From Santa Cruz to Salt Lake City to Miami to Atlanta and most of Texas there are regular sweeps of encampments occupied by people without housing. Things are so backward that the Governor of Texas, before his recent botched response to cold weather, was demanding the City of Austin sweep homeless people or the state would intervene. The most egregious example was Tulare County Sheriff demanded an immediate eviction of those homeless individuals living near the St. John’s River and then torched all the remaining items that the individuals could not carry. Here is the link to the story by David Bacon which is worth a look both for the content of giving voice to the voiceless, but the photos taken by Mr. Bacon that accompany the story are beautiful images not typically seen in most newspapers anymore.
Time, Place, Manner restrictions: Florida
Three Ocala residents who were experiencing homelessness and were repeatedly arrested under the city’s open lodging ordinance had their charges dismissed by a federal court. The court said that it was cruel and unusual punishment to arrest and jail individuals for sleeping outside and being homeless when the city does not provide enough shelter beds. Friend of NCH, Kirsten Anderson, litigation director of the Southern Legal Counsel, who helped with this case heralded this as a major victory that could push other cities to stop mistreating those without housing.
Time, Place, Manner restrictions: Idaho
Lawyers representing homeless individuals against the City of Boise announced a settlement in the Martin vs. Boise 12 year long struggle. After the City lost at the appeals court level they have settled with the individuals. They will no longer punish individuals for sleeping outside and will put funds into improving the homeless social service network. Advocates are using this decision in other jurisdictions to attempt to strike down sweeps.
Time, Place, Manner restrictions: Illinois
In 2017, the US Supreme Court agreed that individuals asking for donations on the street were a protected free speech exercise, and lawyers throughout the country began to sue cities to dismantle their panhandling laws. In early 2021, Rockford, Illinois was the latest city to be forced to change their law and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless successfully argued against a state statute which made illegal to solicit for employment or business near a state highway. The Supreme Court decision is Reed vs. Town of Gilbert, Arizona and is being used throughout the United States to strike down panhandling laws.
Police Violence
If you want a great place to get news on law enforcement interactions with homeless people go to the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) website. They are authority on the West Coast for organizing and advocating for people experiencing homelessness.
WRAP is thrilled to announce that their #RightToRest bill will have a hearing in the Oregon State Legislature on March 9, 2021 at 1pm, local time. Click here to learn more about the bill.
Voting
One of the most important pieces of legislation that will come up this session of Congress is the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore confidence in voting and strike down all the racist legislation in many states to disenfranchise minority and low income voters. NCH supports this legislation and you can track the progress of the voting bills on the Brennan Center website here.
Hate Crimes
Two recent potential hate crimes against homeless people that we will investigate. One in the New York City subways which resulted in a large scale crackdown on people experiencing homelessness. There was also an attack in Nashville by neighbors of an abandoned grocery store who set the store on fire to evict the homeless individuals using the store for shelter. NCH will track the progress on these cases.
We Remember...
Veteran Freezes to Death [photo from Wheeler Funeral Home]
A homeless veteran, Willie Walker froze to death in Augusta, Georgia three days after Christmas, just feet away from the shelter. Local community leaders have vowed to take action to prevent deaths in this community, but having people freeze to death shows a real lack of community resources going to outreach and prevention.
With the recent cold weather that has swept the country, many more have needlessly lost their lives due to the huge holes in the social safety net in most cities. In one of the richest countries on the planet, no one living within the United States should freeze to death because they were forced to sleep outside.
Recent Civil Rights blog posts
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Shelters need to have better oversight by empowering homeless people to provide meaning input into conditions and discharge policies.
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Brian Davis returns to NCH as Director of Grassroots Organiazing after 4 years in the wilderness of Cleveland.
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The recent storms in Sacramento, California show the need for warming centers to be open in every single community in the United States.
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Editorial on the homeless counts that are invasive and do not lead to any changes in the homeless system.
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A profile of Santa Fe homeless system putting people up in dormitories to protect them from the pandemic.
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NCH is sending out masks to homeless individuals from the Ford Motor Company. We have a tracker on the front page of the website www.nationalhomeless.org and if you work at a homeless facility and need masks contact me [email protected] and I will make sure you get them.
What can I do?
Take Action this month:
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If you have any contact with federal legislators, please urge them to support the John Lewis Act as well as the push for a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour. These two pieces of legislation will transform the lives of millions of individuals out of poverty by putting more money in their pocket and being better represented by people who care.
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In addition, contact your state health officials and urge them to define homelessness in their plans to distribute vaccines to the homeless population. Many individuals are skipped or forgotten because they do not meet the traditional definition of homelessness. It is important to vaccinate everyone who may not have the ability to remain socially distant when accessing food, housing, or healthcare.
Contact us
We have a monthly call for advocates at local coalitions who work on Civil Rights Issues. Contact us if you represent a Coalition of advocates who want to help protect the rights of those experiencing homelessness at [email protected].
This newsletter is going out to all members for the first month or so, but we are building a list of individual and organizational members who want to continue to receive this newsletter. If you want to stay on this Civil Right Newsletter list please drop me an e-mail to continue to receive this information [email protected] or if you want to suggest content or information. This is the first and so was longer than usual. Future newsletters will be shorter, I promise.
National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
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