Vegas Makes It A Crime To Feed Homeless People

[Kadie]

Vegas Makes It A Crime To Feed Homeless People

POSTED: 11:53 am PDT July 20, 2006



LAS VEGAS -- A battle is brewing over a new Las Vegas ordinance that bans providing food or meals to the indigent at city parks.

The Las Vegas City Council has unanimously passed a law making it a crime to feed the homeless at city parks.

The law bans giving away or selling food to anyone who could get assistance from official sources under state law, and officials said city marshals will get specialized training to enforce it.

The city’s mayor, Oscar Goodman, dismissed questions about how marshals will identify the homeless so that they can enforce the ordinance.

snip...
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada calls it unconstitutional, unenforceable and the latest attempt by the city to hide and harass the homeless instead of constructively addressing their plight.

"So the only people who get to eat are those who have enough money? Those who get (government) assistance can't eat at your picnic?" asked ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I've heard of some rather strange and extreme measures from other cities. I've never heard of something like this. It's mind-boggling."

more...
http://www.kcra.com/news/9550232/detail.html

[bigwillq]

If people didn't lose all their money in your city....

they wouldn't be homeless! :mad:

-

[ChazII]

9. Don't gamble

and Vegas won't get $$.

[bigwillq]

20. But gambling is addicting

and people will continue to gamble.

[Warpy]

1. That's one law I'd cheerfully disobey

I'm always giving food and water away to anyone who asks for them.

[magellan]

2. There's a brilliant idea

How the hell do they plan to enforce that one? You can't stop me from feeding homeless people on my own property.

[ThomCat]

3. Go get 'em, ACLU.

I just sent you more money. Put it to good use! Go ACLU!

[dsc]

4. Now they really are Sodom

The actual sin of Sodom was inhospitality, not sodomy.

[Sapphire Blue]

5. Not just Vegas... a report from the National Coalition for the Homeless...

A Dream Denied:
The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities

Executive Summary

(excerpt)

An unfortunate trend in cities around the country over the past 25 years has been to turn to the criminal justice system to respond to people living in public spaces. This trend includes measures that target homeless persons by making it illegal to perform life-sustaining activities in public. These measures prohibit activities such as sleeping/camping, eating, sitting, and begging in public spaces, usually including criminal penalties for violation of these laws.

This report is the National Coalition for the Homeless’ (NCH) fourth report on the criminalization of homelessness and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty’s (NLCHP) eighth report on the topic. The report documents the top 20 worst offenders of 2005, as well as initiatives in some cities that are more constructive approaches to the issue of people living in public spaces. The report includes the results of a survey of laws and practices in 224 cities around the country, as well as a survey of lawsuits from various jurisdictions in which those measures have been challenged.

(snip)

Types of Criminalization Measures

The criminalization of homelessness takes many forms, including:

Legislation that makes it illegal to sleep, sit, or store personal belongings in public spaces in cities where people are forced to live in public spaces;

Selective enforcement of more neutral laws, such as loitering or open container laws, against homeless persons;

Sweeps of city areas where homeless persons are living to drive them out of the area, frequently resulting in the destruction of those persons’ personal property, including important personal documents and medication; and

Laws that punish people for begging or panhandling to move poor or homeless persons out of a city or downtown area.

(snip)

Another trend documented in the report is increased city efforts to target homeless persons indirectly by placing restrictions on providers serving food to poor and homeless persons in public spaces.

Continued @ http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/summary.html

[Lone_Star_Dem]

18. I'm not a big fan of Vegas

It's not my kind of place I suppose. This just makes me realize even more how much I don't fit in there.

[tinrobot]

6. If I'm having lunch in the park ...

...and I give my apple to the guy sitting next to me, I go to jail?

Yeah, that'll fly.

[Selatius]

7. An unjust law is no law. There is no humanity in this law.

Acts of civil disobedience are in order. Giving food to the poor should not be a crime.

[leveymg]

8. In a town where gambling and prostitution are encouraged, this is a crime

Thanks for reminding me of how much progress we've made

[pitohui]

10. prostitution is not encouraged, it is illegal in clark county

be that as it may, this law does remind me of the comment of how the law, in its wisdom, forbids rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges

[leveymg]

14. To paraphrase, "The rich get pillows, but the poor get quicker service"

Strange kind of crimes and punishment in Vegas.

[partylessinOhio]

11. This ranks right up there with bans on feeding birds, deer and homeless

pets/animals.

I feed birds/animals everyday with stale bread and other foods. I even get donations from others to help feed them. I defy anyone to try to stop me.

I haven't had any hungry people come by but they wouldn't be turned away.

It is not Fristian to refuse to feed the hungry.

[jmowreader]

12. There's a nice big loophole here

I interpret this as "you can feed anyone you want anywhere EXCEPT city parks."

Apparently they're trying to cut down on begging in the parks.

So...umm...it looks like you can go across the street from the park, or to a Unitarian Universalist church, your back yard, a shelter, or even an abandoned storefront you're renting for a buck a day from its owner, and feed all the homeless people you want.

[ComerPerro]

13. Better to give some to feed a homeless person than to put it in a machine

[Bretttido]

15. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Yes, you can cheat on your husband, get drunk, do drugs, gamble, buy a prostitute, but we'll be god-damned if you're going to come here and feed the poor!

[ComerPerro]

23. Guys, don't tell anyone at home about me giving that guy some food

I have a reputation to maintain

[bobbolink]

16. Thank the goddess for the ACLU!!

This country has become so selfish and hateful that I seriously wonder if it deserves to survive.

Seriously.

:cry:

[stepnw1f]

17. It's A Crime to be Compassionate?

pure evil greed

[KamaAina]

25. New reality series: 'Crimes of Compassion"

Follow the daring exploits of this band of desperadoes as they attempt to actually feed other human beings!

[Ignoramus]

19. Oooh ooh perfect demonstration opportunity

Imagine feeding reclining homeless people grapes on the steps of city hall

[DanCa]

21. I see fields of green, red roses too.......

and i said to myself what a wonderful world. :sarcasm:

[moobu2]

22. Sounds like some whacky republicans

solution for homelessness….make it illegal! :eyes:

[I_Make_Mistakes]

24. Yeah, it's RW christianity again, at it's best. Those Pharasees

will never get right will they?

I wanted to visit Vegas (not a big gambler) just to see what it's like, just saved me some $$! The hypocrisy of Nevada is beyond me!

[leesa]

26. Jeez, I gave a guy a sandwich at a stoplight a few weeks ago. I guess

from now on I'll have to check ID for a home address.

[Solly Mack]

27. I would gladly disobey that law