It is sad to read of the troubles afflicting homeless people, but it is encouraging to see the laws against illegal camping enforced as it is a terrible blight upon the quality of life of a community, and has wrecked havoc on the Lower Reach of the Parkway for years.
Hopefully this new focus on enforcement will remain, and we also hope that the Housing First policy we suggested in our report on the Lower Reach at www.arpps.org , which has been approved by Sacramento City Council as their preferred approach also, soon becomes reality, as it will provide housing for the homeless and reduce illegal camping significantly.
An excerpt.
Homeless vow to fight tickets
Citations for illegal camping inspire bid to challenge fairness of city ordinance.
By Jocelyn Wiener -- Bee Staff Writer Published 12:01 am PDT Saturday, July 22, 2006
Sitting outside the courtroom of the Carol Miller Justice Center on Friday afternoon, Connie Hopson -- 53 years old, disabled and homeless -- prepared for a fight.
"I'm going as far as they let me go," she said. "I'm not giving up until the fat lady sings." She chuckled a little. "And I'm not singing."
Around her, 20 homeless people clutched their crumpled tickets and waited for their turns in court. Most were preparing to make the same statement Hopson had made. In response to citations they received last month for camping illegally, each had two carefully chosen words: not guilty.
"We've got to speak up for ourselves," Hopson explained. "Nobody's going to do it for us."
One at at time -- in between people in Department 81 for traffic violations -- they stood in front of Judge Ann Bravo. Most, like Hopson, were prepared to go to trial to challenge the underlying premise of an ordinance they consider deeply unfair.
Around 5:30 a.m. on June 29, several police officers pulled up in the industrial neighborhood around the Loaves & Fishes homeless services center and ticketed about 50 homeless people for camping illegally, advocates say.
Many were still stretched out, asleep in their sleeping bags and bedrolls. Some were smoking a morning cigarette waiting for the center to open.
The controversy over penalizing homeless people for camping illegally is not new to Sacramento. But, with a trial date now set for Aug. 29, the debate over the ordinance appears to be picking up steam. At that time, the homeless campers will be allowed to testify, call witnesses and hear the testimony of the officers who ticketed them, said Diane Howard, a supervising attorney with the county public defender's office.
Law enforcement and city and county officials have said the trash and excrement homeless people sometimes leave behind when they camp is intolerable to residents and businesses. They worry about health issues and say people visiting neighborhoods where the homeless camp often feel unsafe.
