A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
joint statement from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in the San Francisco Bay Area and American Civil Liberties Union-Northern California
San Francisco, Calif. – Today, in a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case that had barred cities from citing and arresting people simply for being homeless. This ruling is a stark departure from established legal precedent regarding the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
statement by the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP)
Washington D.C. – The Supreme Court issued a decision today in the landmark case Grants Pass v. Johnson. This case centers on whether governments can fine and arrest unhoused people who have no other choice but to sleep outside. As expected, our Dred Scott-loving Supreme Court diluted people’s 8th Amendment protections against Cruel and Unusual punishment OR …The court upheld this ruling deciding it is indeed cruel and unusual punishment to cite and arrest people for lodging when no shelter is available
Lower courts had ruled that Grants Pass practices were in fact found to be unconstitutional as they were arresting and citing unhoused people for camping,
by Nathan Poppe
Matthew Desmond has lived through or lived alongside poverty for much of his life. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and sociology professor has made it his latest mission to focus not only on the lives of the poor in America but also how the rest of the country persistently benefits from them. His new book Poverty, By America lays out how many lives are made small to make room for others to grow,
The New Lynchings of the 21st Century
Updated on May 16th to reflect current developments
What does Walgreens carry on its shelves that could be worth a human life? Banko Brown was a young Black trans activist who had been unhoused in San Francisco for a decade. In his volunteer work and community organizing with the Young Women’s Freedom Center, he consistently advocated for basic access to services, and was beloved by his community.
By Leah Douglas
Low-income Americans will soon receive less in food assistance or completely lose their eligibility for the benefits, as the federal government ends policies adopted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that kept millions from going hungry at a time of lockdowns and rising unemployment.
Anti-hunger advocates warned that the looming drop in aid could undo progress toward a Biden administration goal to end US hunger by 2030.
by Johanna Elattar
It’s Ramadan, and as an Arab-American Muslim, I’ve always loved this month. Ramadan is the time of year when Muslims all over the world fast, pray and reflect on their beliefs. Every Muslim must give a percentage of their income to charity during Ramadan. I like to give to organizations that support homeless people, as well as animal charities.
While looking for a Muslim women’s charity to donate to,
by Johanna Elattar
It’s March: Women’s History Month. We honor women, their accomplishments, and the ongoing struggle for equality and justice. As we remember all the amazing women, I can’t help but think of the forgotten ones. The old woman sitting on a street corner, begging for change from passers by. The young woman doing sex work just to have a little to eat or a place to sleep. The single mother with her child,
by Israel Bayer
Thousands of people die homeless every year in the U.S. In this piece, Israel Bayer, who leads INSP’s North American project, and has worked with street papers and people experiencing homelessness for more than two decades, recounts instances where his work brought him face to face with this terrible reality.
The winter of 2017 Portland, Oregon was hit with an unusually long ice storm.
A federal district court has issued a ruling that blocks the City of Fresno from enforcing an ordinance that puts unconstitutional restrictions on reporters, advocates, and other members of the public documenting how city workers treat unhoused people during encampment sweeps.
“The court recognized that this law was unconstitutional from the start because it is vague, over broad, and threatens to sweep in significant free expression protected by the Constitution,” said Hannah Kieschnick,
In the winter of 2013, I started working at a small Italian restaurant. It was close to where I lived in the Upstate NY town that I had moved to in 2012. My husband and I had left NYC after Hurricane Sandy destroyed our home and everything in it. I was lucky to escape with just the clothes on my back and my little blind cat, Grumbles. Grumbles was a ginger cat that I had rescued when I found him on a Brooklyn street,
