In this issue:Top 20 Meanest Cities in U.S.Hate Crimes in Fort LauderdaleClassism in the Stacks: Libraries and Poor PeopleHousing Authority's Kafka-Style InterrogationBay Area Transit: Separate and UnequalLawsuit on Behalf of East Bay Bus RidersMLK Would Tell Congress to Value WorkersArt, Music for Homeless KidsMercy: A StoryThe Birdman of BerkeleyResisting Unjust Corporate PowerPresident Bush Speaks His MindStreet Spirit PoetryARCHIVESJanuary 2006November 2005October 2005September 2005August 2005July 2005June 2005May 2005April 2005March 2005February 2005Street Spirit is published by American Friends Service Committee. All works are copyrighted by the authors. The views expressed in Street Spirit are those of the individual authors alone, and not necessarily that of the American Friends Service Committee. |
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A Dream Denied
The Top 20 Meanest U.S. Cities Practice Police Repression Against the Poorest of the Poor
A report on the criminalization of poverty by the National Coalition for the Homeless and National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Another homeless woman is made to feel like a criminal by the police. Photo courtesy of castanet.net
Due to anti-homeless laws and police repression, San Francisco, Santa Monica and Los Angeles are named among the nation's 20 meanest cities.
For the past 25 years, U.S. cities have increasingly implemented laws and policies that target homeless persons living in public spaces. This trend began with cities passing laws making it illegal to sleep in public spaces and conducting police sweeps of areas where homeless people were living. In many cities, more neutral laws, such as open container or loitering laws, have been selectively enforced for years.
Cities have also passed anti-panhandling laws, laws regulating sitting on the sidewalk, and numerous other measures. In some cities where a variety of "status" ordinances have resulted in large numbers of arrests, "habitual offenders" are given longer jail terms and classified as criminals in shelters and other service agencies because of their records.
Unfortunately, over the years, cities have expanded their strategies to target homeless people, using vague "disorderly conduct" citations to discourage homeless people from moving freely in public. During the past year, cities have increasingly focused on restrictions to panhandling and public feedings. These restrictions only create additional barriers for people trying to move beyond homelessness and poverty.
20 Meanest Cities in the United States
While most cities throughout the country have either laws or practices that criminalize homeless persons, some city practices or laws have stood out as more egregious than others in their attempt to criminalize homelessness. The National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty have chosen the following top 20 meanest cities in 2005 based on the following criteria: the number of anti-homeless laws in the city, the enforcement of those laws and severities of penalties, the general political climate toward homeless people in the city, local advocate support for the meanest designation, the city's history of criminalization measures, and the existence of pending or recently enacted criminalization legislation in the city.
1. Sarasota, Florida
2. Lawrence, Kansas
3. Little Rock, Arkansas
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Las Vegas, Nevada
6. Dallas, Texas
7. Houston, Texas
8. San Juan, Puerto Rico
9. Santa Monica, California
10. Flagstaff, Arizona
11. San Francisco, California
12. Chicago, Illinois
13. San Antonio, Texas
14. New York City, New York
15. Austin, Texas
16. Anchorage, Arkansas
17. Phoenix, Arizona
18. Los Angeles, California
19. St. Louis, Missouri
20. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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