Federal Agencies Condemn Criminalization

Law Center's Advocacy Secures Critical New Report

Today, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the U.S. Department of Justice released a report condemning the criminalization of homelessness, a growing trend in cities across the country designed to minimize the visibility of homeless people.

The report confirms what the Law Center has long insisted: criminalization laws undermine real solutions and may violate the constitutional and human rights of homeless people, as well as U.S. international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture.

The laws in question criminally punish homeless people for performing life-sustaining acts, such as eating or sleeping, in public.  The Law Center has long called for an end to these laws, in favor of constructive alternatives that truly address people's homelessness.  The federal report draws heavily on Law Center publications, including Criminalizing Crisis and Homes Not Handcuffs.

Developing the federal report was a requirement of the 2009 HEARTH Act, for which NLCHP was the primary advocate in Congress.  It is the first report on criminalization ever issued by the U.S. government.

To read the full press release, click here.

To read the federal report, click here.