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Updated Report on Decriminalizing Homelessness Released
Key Finding: Litigation Remains Highly Effective Tool for Battling Punitive Measures
(March 10, 2022, Washington, D.C.) – The National Homelessness Law Center’s Litigation Manual Supplement shows that litigation continues to be a successful tool in the fight to decriminalize homelessness, with most of the lawsuits filed to challenge criminalization laws and enforcement practices finding success in court. The “Housing Not Handcuffs Litigation Manual Supplement: Criminalization of Homelessness Case Summaries 2022” highlights increasing success rates in cases seeking to address punitive measures targeting people experiencing homelessness, such as anti-camping laws, panhandling restrictions, prohibitions against residing in vehicles, and other dehumanizing policies. The Supplement shows, among other key findings, that most successful cases were brought against camping bans and sweeps, with 144 out of 281 cases resulting in favorable decisions. The second largest category of cases challenged panhandling bans, with a 100% success rate in all cases brought after the important Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert in 2015. Additionally, 77% of cases challenging loitering, loafing, and vagrancy bans, and 66% of cases challenging food sharing bans, resulted in favorable outcomes.
“Laws criminalizing homelessness are not only inhumane and ineffective uses of legislative power,” says lead author of the report and Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign Manager, Lily Milwit, “but, as evidenced by the case summaries we aggregated and analyzed, they are also bad policy, and in many cases, unconstitutional.”
To combat the disturbing rise of criminalization of homelessness, the Law Center and more than 3000 partner organizations and individuals nationwide launched the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign (HNH Campaign) in 2015, which is designed to move cities from harmful criminalization strategies toward cost-effective policy solutions to homelessness, such as expanded access to permanent housing. The original Litigation Manual, published in 2017, was created as a response to the prevalence of local laws that criminally or civilly punish life-sustaining activities of people experiencing homelessness. The Supplement includes case summaries for more than 280 lawsuits across multiple jurisdictions and categories of litigation and analyzes contemporary trends to inform litigation strategy.
Tristia Bauman, Senior Attorney at the Law Center adds, “too often legislation proposed to address homelessness is harmful, expensive, and out of touch with the realities of homelessness, such as model policies promoted by the Cicero Institute. The Law Center is working to combat these harmful policies by proposing real solutions to homelessness that work, save tax dollars, and promote human dignity.” The HNH Campaign and this updated report are part of that effort.
You can learn more about the manual and the Campaign by attending a webinar hosted by the Law Center today, Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 2pm ET/11am PT.
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The National Homelessness Law Center (The Law Center) is the only national organization dedicated solely to using the power of the law to prevent and end homelessness. With the support of a large network of pro bono lawyers, we address the immediate and long-term needs of people who are homeless or at risk through outreach and training, advocacy, impact litigation, and public education.
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