Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Fri 03/29/2024 View Thu 03/28/2024 View Wed 03/27/2024 View Tue 03/26/2024 View Mon 03/25/2024 View Sun 03/24/2024 View Sat 03/23/2024
2021-06-11 Home Front: Politix
Oregon will allow homeless individuals to sleep on public land in all communities
[OREGONLIVE] Oregon communities must rewrite local rules to allow Oregonians to sit, lie, sleep and keep warm and dry on public property in most circumstances.

House Bill 3115, which passed the Senate Wednesday afternoon and is en route to Gov. Kate Brown’s desk, is a response to a 2018 landmark homelessness case that impacted most western states with an intent to better support individuals experiencing homelessness.

While local governments should already be following rules set forth by the case known as Martin v. Boise, the bill, written at the behest of House Speaker Tina Kotek, forces cities to officially change any ordinance language still on the books to be in line with the court decision. It passed the Senate 28-10 on a largely party line vote, with Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose the lone Democrat to vote no.

In its ruling, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said governments cannot criminalize conduct that is unavoidable as a result of experiencing homelessness. To punish a homeless individual for sleeping outside when there aren’t enough shelter beds would be comparable to punishing that individual for the fact that they are homeless, a consequence the court described as a cruel and unusual.

Alison McIntosh, policy director for the Oregon Housing Alliance, said in a letter supporting the bill that Martin on its own doesn’t provide clarity about what public property people are allowed to sleep on. Also, she said, cities have worked around Martin by enforcing "no camping" rules on some public property while not enforcing it on other public land.

"This does not solve the problem, though, for either people experiencing homelessness or law enforcement," she wrote. "It does not provide people experiencing homelessness clear guidance about where they can or cannot sit or sleep."

McIntosh said the bill is a step in the right direction.

While the Martin case could be overturned in the future, the new law would still protect unsheltered individuals sleeping on public land.

Posted by Fred 2021-06-11 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ]  Top

#1 How many hours does a homeless person sleep?
Posted by Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 2021-06-11 00:35||   2021-06-11 00:35|| Front Page Top

#2 
Depends on whose front law he is sleeping on...
Posted by Bob Ebbusoter9535 2021-06-11 00:42||   2021-06-11 00:42|| Front Page Top

#3 
lawn
Posted by Bob Ebbusoter9535 2021-06-11 00:42||   2021-06-11 00:42|| Front Page Top

#4 I got my eye on a couple acres of Oregon beachfront. Start w/ a tent, then a cabin and work my up to a full fledged mansion. And don't dare the government ask for any taxes cause I be homeless and shit.
Posted by Jeremiah Uleack1446 2021-06-11 01:45||   2021-06-11 01:45|| Front Page Top

#5 This is just punishing the citizenry with urban blight.
Posted by Jiggs Trotsky5854 2021-06-11 05:46||   2021-06-11 05:46|| Front Page Top

#6 Wouldn't it be easier to make homeless shelters available? Making conduct avoidable?
Posted by Vespasian Ebboting9735 2021-06-11 09:48||   2021-06-11 09:48|| Front Page Top

#7 It's a mystery why those eastern Oregon counties want to join my adopted home state of Idaho, doesn't it?
Posted by Warthog 2021-06-11 10:53||   2021-06-11 10:53|| Front Page Top

#8 Homelessness is a lifestyle choice for many.
Posted by warthogswife 2021-06-11 11:30||   2021-06-11 11:30|| Front Page Top

#9 maybe they could move the homeless out to Burns, plenty of room there.
Posted by 746 2021-06-11 12:46||   2021-06-11 12:46|| Front Page Top

#10 At least they're not putting them up in luxury hotel rooms like they do in California.
Posted by Abu Uluque 2021-06-11 12:47||   2021-06-11 12:47|| Front Page Top

#11 They will reap what they sow. I whole heartedly endorse Oregon as the preferred dumping ground for bums and druggies.
Posted by Liz Warren 2021-06-11 14:16||   2021-06-11 14:16|| Front Page Top

#12 Lizzie, is it all the tents?
Posted by swksvolFF 2021-06-11 16:25||   2021-06-11 16:25|| Front Page Top

#13 I will pay for the tent if the homeless people pitch it on the sidewalk outside the Mayor’s house.
Posted by Airandee 2021-06-11 17:12||   2021-06-11 17:12|| Front Page Top

15:08 DarthVader
15:04 Grom the Reflective
14:56 swksvolFF
14:54 M. Murcek
14:43 ed in texas
14:42 DooDahMan
14:41 swksvolFF
14:41 ed in texas
14:39 Grom the Reflective
14:38 ed in texas
14:37 Grom the Reflective
14:30 DooDahMan
14:28 NoMoreBS
14:28 DooDahMan
14:27 Grom the Reflective
14:20 USN, Ret.
14:15 Grom the Reflective
14:11 Grom the Reflective
14:08 Procopius2k
14:05 trailing wife
14:03 Frank G
14:01 magpie
13:56 DarthVader
13:40 M. Murcek









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com