Statement on Criminalization of Homelessness in the U.S.

Submitted to the International Council on Human Rights Policy

In March 2011, Law Center Legal Director Karen Cunningham participated in a two-day Workshop on the Penalization of People Living in Poverty.  The meeting in Geneva, Switzerland was hosted by the International Council on Human Rights Policy and brought together more than 20 researchers and advocates from around the world.  This testimony was submitted in advance of the meeting to address the manifestations of criminalization in the United States.

United Nations Independent Expert on the Question of Human Rights and Extreme Poverty Magdalena Sepulveda, who attended the meeting, will draw on what she learned to prepare a report to the United Nations General Assembly aimed at raising awareness of the penalization of people living in poverty and providing recommendations to states to address the human rights abuses inherent in such practices.

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