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- Sep 30, 2011
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A San Francisco judge dismissed criminal charges Thursday against three homeless people who were arrested for camping or sleeping on the streets, a decision that follows a federal appeals court ruling barring cities from prosecuting such cases when no shelters are available.
District Attorney George Gascón, who has announced a new policy of charging people with illegal camping only when they reject an offer of an available shelter, did not challenge the dismissals. But Gascón and Public Defender Jeff Adachi’s office appear to be at odds on what a city has to do to make shelters “available.”
In a Sept. 4 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated lawsuits by homeless people challenging ordinances in Boise, Idaho, that made it a crime to sleep on a sidewalk or to use any sidewalk or public property as a “camping place.” The court said the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits criminal penalties for “sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter.”
SF judge throws out charges against homeless people camping on sidewalk
Good! Make some changes.
District Attorney George Gascón, who has announced a new policy of charging people with illegal camping only when they reject an offer of an available shelter, did not challenge the dismissals. But Gascón and Public Defender Jeff Adachi’s office appear to be at odds on what a city has to do to make shelters “available.”
In a Sept. 4 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated lawsuits by homeless people challenging ordinances in Boise, Idaho, that made it a crime to sleep on a sidewalk or to use any sidewalk or public property as a “camping place.” The court said the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits criminal penalties for “sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter.”
SF judge throws out charges against homeless people camping on sidewalk
Good! Make some changes.