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

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HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN STREET USA2008connected to a building that is publicly or privately owned, leased, or used, including acemetery, library, meeting hall, recreation center, or school:(1) because a person or group of a particular race, color, religiousbelief, sexual orientation, gender, or national origin, or because a person or group that is homeless,has contacts or is associated with the building; or(2) if there is evidence that exhibits animosity against a person orgroup, because of the race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, ornational origin of that person or group or because that person or group is homelessPUERTO RICO LEGISLATIONPuerto Rico passed legislation that was designed to give much needed support to homeless people.Encompassed in this law, is a section emphasizing that homeless people should not be discriminatedagainst for any reason. Anti-discrimination will be addressed through the creation of a council(Multi-Sector Homeless Population Support Council) that will take action to support homelessindividuals. It was approved September 27, 2007.Due to the length <strong>and</strong> nature of the law, an excerpt is not available. Seek Puerto Rico’s Legislaturepage: http://www.oslpr.org/english/master.asp?NAV=LEYES. Search for Law 130.SEATTLE, WASHINGTON LEGISLATIONCouncil Bill 116025 was signed by the Mayor of Seattle on December 13, 2007. This ordinanceadded homeless persons as a protected class to a st<strong>and</strong>ing city ordinance regarding maliciousharassment.Be it ordained by the City of Seattle as follows:An ordinance relating to the criminal code <strong>and</strong> amending Section 12A.06.115:A. A person is guilty of malicious harassment if he or shemaliciously <strong>and</strong> intentionally commits one (1) of the following acts because of his or herperception of another person's gender identity, homelessness, marital status, politicalideology, age, or parental status:1. Causes physical injury to another person; or2. By threat places another person in reasonable fear of harm to hisor her person or property or harm to the person or property of a third person; provided however, thatit shall not constitute malicious harassment for a person to speak or act in a critical, insulting, ordeprecatory way so long as his or her words or conduct do not constitute a threat of harm to theperson or property of another person; or3. Causes physical damage to or the destruction of the property of another person.55
HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN STREET USA2008B. "Threat" means to communicate, directly or indirectly, the intent to:1. Cause bodily injury to another; or2. Cause damage to the property of another; or3. Subject another person to physical confinement or restraint.C. For purposes of this section:1. "Gender identity" means a person's identity, expression, orphysical characteristics, whether or not traditionally associated with one's biological sex or one'ssex at birth, including transsexual, transvestite, <strong>and</strong> transgendered, <strong>and</strong> including a person'sattitudes, preferences, beliefs, <strong>and</strong> practices pertaining thereto.2. "Homelessness" means the status or condition of being withouta home, including, but not limited to, the state of living in thestreets.D. Every person who, in the commission of malicious harassment, shall commit any other crime,may be punished therefore as well as for the malicious harassment, <strong>and</strong> may be prosecuted for eachcrime separately.LOS ANGELES RESOLUTIONIn March of 2009, the Los Angeles Board of County Supervisors passed a unanimous resolutionrequesting the following from the Human Relations Commission: incorporate awareness ofhomelessness into high school <strong>and</strong> youth programs to encourage respect <strong>and</strong> humanization of thehomeless, create trainings for law enforcement to investigate crimes against homeless people withan eye out for evidence of bias or discrimination against the victim due to disability, track crimes ofhate against homeless people in the Commissions database <strong>and</strong> monitor trends to educate thecommunity, encourage the Sheriff, District Attorney, <strong>and</strong> city/county prosecutors to track <strong>and</strong> reportcrimes against homeless people to help in developing actions to prevent <strong>and</strong> stop these violent acts,<strong>and</strong> finally to work with all Human Relations Commissions across the county to create betterpractices <strong>and</strong> data collection.The Los Angeles Board of County Supervisors requests the Human Relations Commission to:AGN. NO. 111.) Integrate the issues of prejudice <strong>and</strong> violence against the homeless into its zero hour humanrelations model high school initiative <strong>and</strong> its other youth projects to promote a greaterunderst<strong>and</strong>ing of how people become homeless, <strong>and</strong> to humanize the challenges of homelessness tocounter the lack of respect <strong>and</strong> compassion;2.) Include in all Commission hate crime trainings conducted for law enforcement professionals anemphasis on investigating whether a crime against a homeless person is motivated bydiscriminatory attitudes or bias against a disability, including mental or physical disabilities, <strong>and</strong> totrack such crimes;3.) Create a new category in the Commissions hate crime database for those targeting the homeless,<strong>and</strong> include such occurrences in the Commission’s annual hate crime report, in order to identify56
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