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Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 12:19am.
Officer Hovan and Officer Schumacher respond to a complaint that Cisco (sp?) was panhandling. When I took this picture they were asking him to move on. He moved. I asked Officer Schumacher if the ordinance was being enforced and she said that (to the best of her knowledge) it wasn't, that they were still in the informative stage. (I took this to mean that OPD hasn't made any arrests or written any citations in regard to the ordinance.) There will be an ongoing vigil in protest of the ordinance and discrimination against homeless people on Thursday's from 5pm to 6pm at the corner by Dumpster Values.
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Disproportionate penalty
Submitted by Mike on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 6:51am.This same guy speeding through a school zone is subject to a traffic infraction, no criminal sanctions.
Should public policy make sense? Do the penalty sanctions of these two "crimes" make sense?
One thing I would suggest is that if any of us witness the police actually confronting a person sitting on the sidewalk as apparently happened on this occasion, that we sit down with them immediately and invoke the free speech exemption by protesting this ridiculous public policy.
Sitting on the sidewalk should not be a crime. I think it's really that simple. Panhandling should not be a crime.
Aggressive panhandling, obstructing and harassing people who are walking by is another thing. It's already covered by public nuisance laws. Sitting down should not be a crime.
Do we want to set a minimum speed limit on the sidewalks to make sure pedestrians aren't interfered with? Some folks just stand there, some folks walk way too slow. Some walk fast enough, but in groups that travel 3 or 4 abreast and interfere with other pedestrians' progress. If this is truly about pedestrian interference, it needs to address all the forms of interference, not just the ones practiced by a select population who are being targeted by this ordinance.
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." President Dwight D. Eisenhower April 16, 1953
Panhandling Illegal
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 1:53pm.Legislating against loitering or panhandling will not make homelessness go away.
What will make homelessness go away? Maybe a broad based campaign to improve access to education and health care will help. Maybe a governmental jobs program would help. I think there are much better ways to approach the problem of homelessness than telling homeless people that they are bad by legislating against behavior.
In the Course of Events
I am taking a somewhat
Submitted by Mike on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 4:39pm."Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." President Dwight D. Eisenhower April 16, 1953