Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA - National Coalition ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN STREET USA2008• California passed a law in 2004 m<strong>and</strong>ating police officer training on hate crimes againsthomeless persons, particularly those with disabilities.• Maine passed a law in 2006 that allows judges to take into consideration a victim’s homelessstatus when considering sentencing for the offender. This was the first state to give homelesspeople any protection under hate crimes laws.• A statewide public education project in Florida to educate people about homelessness wasinitiated in 2007 by the National Coalition for the Homeless in conjunction withAmeriCorps*VISTA Volunteers. This project has now exp<strong>and</strong>ed to Georgia <strong>and</strong> South Carolina.• The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust has created a curriculum/video about homelessnessthat is shown in schools throughout the county to give young people a greater underst<strong>and</strong>ing ofhomelessness.• Puerto Rico, in 2007, passed a law to create a council that would address the discrimination ofhomeless individuals <strong>and</strong> strive to restore basic human rights <strong>and</strong> needs to the homelesspopulation.• Alaska added homeless status to a law creating more protection for vulnerable populations• Seattle amended the city’s malicious harassment statute to criminalize particular acts, includingmalicious <strong>and</strong> intentional injury or threats against a person, or destruction of or damage to theperson’s property, because of the perception that the person is homeless• Los Angeles passed a resolution requiring homelessness awareness to be taught at the highschool level, trainings for police officers dealing with possible hate crimes against the homeless,<strong>and</strong> tracking of hate crimes committed against homeless individuals.• Maryl<strong>and</strong> became the first state to non-discretionally add homeless persons to the existing hatecrime law.• Clevel<strong>and</strong>, OH passed an ordinance dictating that repercussions for “intimidating” or harassinga homeless person due to their status would be more severe 5 .• Washington, DC City Council approved a bill adding homeless people to its hate crimes law. Itwas signed into law by the Mayor on August 6, 2009.In addition, several legislative initiatives are currently underway to address this growing problem.• A bill (H.R. 3419) was introduced on July 30, 2009 in this session of Congress in the U.S.House of Representatives by U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) <strong>and</strong> 13 otherco-sponsors which seeks to amend the <strong>Hate</strong> Crimes Statistics Act to include crimes against thehomeless.• A bill, David Ray Ritcheson <strong>Hate</strong> Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 262) was also introduced in thissession of Congress in the U.S. House of Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). The billseeks to provide support to victims of hate crimes, including housing assistance for homelessindividuals.• Bills to add homeless persons as a protected class to state hate crime statutes are currently beingconsidered in California, Florida, <strong>and</strong> South Carolina.5 City of Clevel<strong>and</strong> Codified Ordinance No. 830-08. Intimidation of a Homeless Person. Passed: 8-6-08, effective: 8-12-0811
HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN STREET USA2008Even though the trend of violence against homeless persons has risen over the past decade, there aresteps that we can take to put an end to this terrible trend. Advocates, service providers, policymakers,<strong>and</strong> members of the public can take a st<strong>and</strong> by:• Supporting bills, such as H.R. 3419 <strong>and</strong> H.R. 262.• Supporting state legislative efforts to add homeless persons as a protected class to state hatecrime statutes.• Initiating police trainings to help law enforcement officers better underst<strong>and</strong> homelessnessin general <strong>and</strong> how to prevent <strong>and</strong> manage hate crime against homeless persons.• Engaging in public education initiatives in schools to educate young people abouthomelessness <strong>and</strong> to humanize homeless neighbors.• Advocating against city measures that criminalize homelessness <strong>and</strong> for more constructiveapproaches to homelessness.• Advocating for more affordable housing <strong>and</strong> permanent supportive housing to bring an endto homelessness for those homeless members of our communities.12
Page 1 and 2: HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN S
Page 11: HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN S
Page 63 and 64:
HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN S
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
OCTOBERHATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
show all

Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA - National Coalition ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?