Civil Rights Campaign

ab5

On April 23rd AB 5 passed out of Judicairy Committee.
Check out the roll call vote!
Send your Support Letter

As we prepare for Appropriations hearing we all need to speak out once again!! We are scheduled for hearing on May 15, 2013, where we will go on suspense. We will then only have till May 24th to get off of suspense and to the full assembly before the end of this session..

We are planning a call in day in conjunction with California Hunger Day Action on May 22nd (link to flyer)

And launching a social media campaign through all of our newsletters / facebook / forums

A lot of to plug in, all geared to educating our communities and raising our voices to those who ultimately will decide our fate. Towards that goal here are two links:

Appropriation Committee members

Full Assembly roster

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 at: phone: 916-319-2017. fax: 916-319-2117.   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

California’s Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act (AB 5) authored by assemblymember Tom Ammiano is an attempt to get the State of California to differentiate between criminal acts that a person might commit (regardless of their housing status) and life sustaining acts we all perform but become criminal offenses when those without housing commit them.

AB 5 is a bill that says to local governments that regardless of whether or not you are frustrated and angry that the federal government has abandoned your needs, it is not ok for you to take that anger out on people who are less powerful than you.  
The bullied child need not become the teenage bully.

Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut and Missouri are joining California in calling for a Homeless Bill of Rights. This signifies a growing dissatisfaction with the current tools and strategies available to localities to address our growing economic disparities that result in human rights abuses.

 

legislation

endorsers

outreach

media

artwork

Homeless Bill of Rights Artwork

 

 

 



Legislation:

  • bill.
  • summary/fact sheet. 

Endorsers:

  • endorsement form.
  • list of endorsers. 

Outreach:

  • street outreach fact sheet 
  • blank outreach forms
  • faith community letter
  • historical criminalization fact sheet 

Media:

  • press release 
  • articles

Artwork:

  • TBD

In preparation for launching a national campaign Right to Exist, and now Introducing Homeless Person's Bill of Rights and Fairness Act WRAP members have been documenting homeless people's experiences with the police,BID agents, criminal justice system, and private security guards.

The findings of our research are an affront to fairness and decency:

  • 81% of survey respondents reported being harassed, cited, or arrested for sleeping.
  • 78% of survey respondents reported being harassed, cited, or arrested for sitting or lying on the sidewalk.
  • 66% of survey respondents reported being harassed, cited, or arrested for loitering or hanging out.
  • Only 26% of the respondents said they knew of a safe place to sleep at night.

Below is a fact sheet with the preliminary results from outreach to over 1276 homeless people in 13 communities.

NEW National Civil Rights Outreach Fact Sheet >>>

If you would like to add your communities voice to this effort download the forms below, complete the surveys, and send them into us. We will add them to the national results and send you your local & national results.

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English Form                  Spanish Form

English Outreach Form Download>>
Spanish Outreach Form Download>>

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Because federal responses to homelessness have been so ineffective, a growing number of localities are using "broken windows" policing to remove homeless people from public view. These punitive measures involve gross human and civil rights violations.

This nationwide pattern has escaped civil rights protections because these ordinances are drafted very carefully to appear as if they apply equally to all people, but enforcement is very much impacted by people’s skin color, housing, economic, and mental health status.

WRAP civil rights campaign combines street outreach, documentation of civil rights violations, organizing, legal defense, and direct action.  None of us can do this alone. We must work in solidarity with one another to defend those being attacked and pressure local governments to end these discriminatory programs.  

WRAP thanks the Diane Middleton Foundation for the generous support that helped make this outreach and organizing possible.