Illogical cruelty: Lawmakers seek to criminalize homelessness
People experiencing homelessness in Raleigh pack to leave an encampment off of Highway 70 near Interstate 40. (Photo: Greg Childress)
As anyone who steps outside of a gated community these days is aware, the number of impoverished and homeless people living on the street is, thanks to our unjust and top heavy economy, way up.
What's more, providing useful assistance to these people – many of whom struggle with disabilities, mental and physical health challenges and just plain hopelessness — is extremely tough.
Here, however, is one thing we do know from the experts who do this heroic work: passing laws to make life on the street even tougher isn't a solution.
Unfortunately, that's where the North Carolina legislature is heading with a bill that would force local governments to criminalize camping or sleeping on public property.
As a Methodist pastor told lawmakers, quote 'How can we push down folks who are already down? Seems like it's impossible, but this bill has figured it out.'
The bottom line: As several advocates told lawmakers, the solution to homelessness lies in a sustained commitment to building a genuine social safety net and ending poverty, not criminalizing people who have no other place to go.
For NC Newsline, I'm Rob Schofield.
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