- Report: More cities pass laws that hurt the homeless, By Marisol Bello, July 16, 2014, USA Today: “More cities are making it illegal to camp in public, sleep in vehicles on city streets, or sit or lie down in public, a new report shows. The laws are meant to curb the problems associated with homelessness, such as public drunkenness and sleeping on the sidewalk. But the report, released Wednesday by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, says the laws criminalize people just for being homeless…”
- With a series of small bans, cities turn homelessness into a crime, By Pam Fessler, July 16, 2014, National Public Radio: “Laws that criminalize homelessness are on the rise across the country, according to a new report by an advocacy group. The laws prohibit everything from sleeping in public to loitering and begging. Advocates for the homeless say the laws are making the problem worse. Susan St. Amour is among those who could be affected by the new restrictions. Twice a week, she stands on a median strip at an intersection in downtown Portland, Maine, asking passersby for cash. She says she needs the money to get by…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty