• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
WRAP

WRAP

Western Regional Advocacy Project

  • Donate Now
  • Get Email Updates
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • About
    • 40 Years of Fighting
    • History
    • Mission
    • Strategy
    • Members
    • Board / Staff
  • Campaigns
    • Business Improvement Districts
    • House Keys Not Sweeps
    • Legal Defense Clinics Project
    • Homeless Bill of Rights
    • Oregon Right To Rest
    • Without Housing
    • Street Outreach
  • Organizing Tools
    • Without Housing Organizing Toolkit
    • Homeless Bill of Rights Campaign Manual
    • WRAP Organizers Manual
    • WRAP Artwork
  • Resources
    • Pipe Dreams and Picket Fences Report
    • Art in Action Power Point Slide Show
    • Hobos to Street People
    • House Keys Book
    • Political Education
    • Legal Research
  • Media
    • Newsletters
    • Blog
    • Hobos to Street People Art Show
    • Street Newspapers
    • Sweeps Gallery Videos
    • Videos
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Become a Monthly Sustainer
    • Volunteer
    • Support WRAP
    • WRAP Newsletters & Updates Sign Up

Unhoused people silenced by Oregon legislature

April 12, 2017 by Jonathan Leave a Comment

In an unprecedented act of disrespect, the Right To Rest Act HB – 215 will not get a chance for a hearing in Oregon this year.

In spite of an unprecedented seven co-sponsors, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Representative Jeff Barker refused to schedule House Bill 2215 for a hearing in the assembly Judiciary Committee, prior to the deadline for a vote.

“We should not be criminalizing basic human activities like resting, giving citations to people who cannot afford to pay, and forcing them into the criminal justice system,” said Representative Carla Piluso. “It is inhumane and counterproductive.

Due to my decades of experience in law enforcement,” said Piluso. “I can say that this bill will not encourage illegal behavior. Rather, it allows police officers to use their scarce time and resources focusing on actual crimes, rather than criminalizing people who just need a place to exist.”

This is the first time any state legislative body refused to allow the Right To Rest Act to go before a committee for a full hearing of the issues and a vote of the members. The Right to Rest Act has been introduced three times in Colorado and California legislatures’ and twice in Oregon. The bill has a hearing scheduled in Colorado on April 19th.

Representative Barker’s decision to not hold a hearing, and allow a vote on HB 2215, is eerily reminiscent of local governments trying to make poor and homeless people disappear from sight in local communities.

“We documented the experiences of 565 houseless people with police and private security,” said Ibrahim Mubarak Director of Right 2 Survive. “The top three offenses were people being harassed, cited and/or arrested for sleeping, sitting and lying down. The reality is people sleeping, sitting and lying down are now crimes in Oregon. Our state legislators absolutely need to hear this”


click here to wach video The Right 2 Rest Act, OR HB 2215 >>>

Of course, in a time when the poor people are demonized for being poor and homeless people are increasingly seen more as something to fear rather than human beings, it’s unfortunately not all that surprising.

The Right to Rest Act seeks to end the criminalization of rest and accompanying violations of basic human and civil rights for all people. This legislation protects the following rights and prohibits the enforcement of any local laws that violate these rights:

  • Right to move freely, rest, sleep and be protected in a public space.
  • Right to rest in public spaces and protect one self from the elements in a non-obstructive manner.
  • Right to reasonable expectation of privacy of your property in public spaces.
  • Right to occupy a legally parked vehicle.
  • Right to share food and eat in public.

With Oregon’s $1.6 billion budget deficit, and massive federal and state budget cuts to housing and human services being planned (Trump administration has called for 6.6 Billion in HUD budget alone), this legislation is more important than ever. At a time when our community can’t provide affordable housing, mental health services and stability for its own residents, the idea of criminalizing people that fall through the safety net seems cruel. And it is. It’s downright cruel.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon (ACLU of Oregon) released a report on April 5, 2017 that reveals the widespread proliferation of city and county laws in Oregon that criminalize people experiencing homelessness. The report analyzed ordinances in 69 of Oregon’s most populous cities and 21 corresponding counties, and found 224 laws that restrict, criminalize, or punish people for performing life sustaining activities in a public space.

“This is not one city that has gone rogue,” said Kimberly McCullough, policy director at the ACLU of Oregon. “The trend towards criminalization is statewide, as is the housing crisis. As rents climb cities across Oregon are seeing huge increases in the number of residents experiencing homelessness. Oregon should focus on addressing the root causes of homelessness and poverty, but instead we’re seeing hundreds of laws that punish the homeless. Fines and criminal records only make it harder for people to secure stable housing.”

The ACLU of Oregon report finds:

  • A majority of cities and counties surveyed have laws that prohibit sleeping or camping. Twenty-seven cities outlaw sleeping or camping anywhere in public. Thirty-one cities in Oregon restrict sleeping in one’s vehicle even if it is in a normal parking place and posing no safety hazard.
  • Forty-four cities and seven counties have curfews that penalize minors who are on the streets unaccompanied by an adult during nighttime hours. But advocates say homeless youth often sleep in highly visible places for safety, and curfew laws push them to remote areas where they are vulnerable to victimization.
  • Twenty-four cities and one county in Oregon have also prohibited trespass within their municipal code. This is in addition to the state-level trespass laws that already allow any city to cite for trespassing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“People who live on the streets have to make difficult choices that have criminal implications, simply to go about their lives,” said Karissa Moden, with Sisters Of The Road. “They have to ask, Do I sleep in the park and violate the camping ban, or do I trespass onto private property? Where can I go to the bathroom? Where can I set my stuff down without attracting attention from police?”

The solution to homelessness is simple – it’s housing. Unfortunately, thousands of people remain without a safe place to call home in Oregon and therefore must conduct their survival activities in public space. We must work collectively to end the criminalization of homelessness and create the necessary affordable housing in our community.

“At the end of the day, The Right To Rest Act deserved a hearing,” said Paul Boden, director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project. “The practice of law enforcement targeting people experiencing homelessness has to be stopped. These laws have to become a part of the past. People’s lives are depending on it”

Rest, Not Arrest from Outside the Frame

Filed Under: #right2rest, About Us, Blog, Criminalization, HBR, Homeless Bill of Rights, Homelessness, Organizing, State Campaigns, State Government, Street Roots Blog, Uncategorized, Videos, WRAP in the News, WRAP Members

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Footer

Instagram Feed

Welcome to the WRAP-UP! Boise, ID. Video Shows Fam Welcome to the WRAP-UP!	Boise, ID. Video Shows Family Violently Arrested and Severely Injured for Living in Park, and more news from our members.  https://conta.cc/3R8Efzl
https://conta.cc/3r3rHhU
Washington D.C. PRESS RELEASE: Congresswoman Bush Washington D.C. PRESS RELEASE: Congresswoman Bush Re-Introduces Unhoused Bill of Rights https://wraphome.org/
After nearly 30 years of continuous publication, w After nearly 30 years of continuous publication, we have lost our funding. Street Spirit ceased publication on July 1, but we will not give up! Our newspaper is an invaluable source of East Bay news, and a vital resource for the people who sell it. Come party with us to support our effort to relaunch. https://conta.cc/3rifOod
WRAP is Hiring - Member Organizer WRAP was founde WRAP is Hiring - Member Organizer 
WRAP was founded in 2005 by local social justice organizations across the West to bring about real systemic change. We are building a multi-issue, multi-racial and social justice-based coalition which brings organizations together across the local–national divide, thus giving us the strength and experience to make ending poverty and homelessness a national priority. https://conta.cc/3XD5QK9
Celebrating Resistance Relationships June 30, 202 Celebrating Resistance Relationships 
June 30, 2023 * 6:00 - 8:00 pm 
320 West 37th Street, New York, NY 10018
State of the “Sweeps” The politics of encampme State of the “Sweeps”
The politics of encampments and displacement in the “post” pandemic order
Public panel discussion, June 14, 4-5:30pm Communications 120
University of Washington, Seattle
Undercommons Archives Art Show Thursday June 15th Undercommons Archives Art Show
Thursday June 15th 7-10pm 
Adobe Books 3130 24th St. SF
Instagram post 17863401230948820 Instagram post 17863401230948820
San Francisco, CA. Mayor’s Plan to Expand Shelte San Francisco, CA. Mayor’s Plan to Expand Shelter GUTS HOUSING FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES AND YOUTH 
https://wraphome.org/2023/05/31/mayors-plan-to-expand-shelter-guts-housing-for-homeless-families-and-youth/
Nationally, evictions from public housing have sur Nationally, evictions from public housing have surged since late 2021, when the federal government lifted an eviction moratorium put in place to protect renters during the pandemic, according to Peter Hepburn, associate director of Princeton University’s Eviction Lab.  https://conta.cc/3WJco9B
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Facebook Icon

Facebook Feed

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
6 days ago
Mark your calendar: Homeless Advisory Meeting Friday September 22nd
If you are houseless or have been houseless or are on the edge of being houseless come to this meeting and speak up! 
If you are housed and can come listen and support please do too! If you can help provide rides to houseless people to this meeting please let us know. 
Friday September 22nd 11am-2pm 
at 20th Street Rec Center (1011 20th Street) 
There will be lunch.
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0

Twitter Icon

Twitter Feed

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.

YouTube icon

Youtube Code

Our Channel

Copyright © 2023 Western Regional Advocacy Project WRAP · Log in