criminalization of homelessness

Madison Sheahan’s Wildlife and Fisheries officers sent unhoused people to a New Orleans warehouse. What does that mean for the future?

In the two months since the court’s decision in Grants Pass, an analysis by The Appeal finds that dozens of municipalities have passed or proposed new camping bans that levy the possibility of fines, tickets, or jail time against unhoused residents. More are sure to follow.

At least 88 unhoused people were killed in Maricopa County, Arizona, between 2021 and 2023. Experts say the deaths are a microcosm of a worrying national trend.

Jenkins won’t charge the security guard who shot Banko Brown to death. That’s precisely why San Franciscans elected her in the first place.

As Phoenix begins to displace around 700 people from an encampment near downtown, the ACLU of Arizona is asking a judge to find the city in contempt of a court order prohibiting it from violating the rights of the unhoused.

The ACLU of Southern California is suing the city of Lancaster and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for excessively citing people living at desert homeless encampments in the Antelope Valley.

As Texas lifts its COVID-19 restrictions, the city’s jail remains overcrowded and its police and prosecutors continue to operate as normal.

The city is flouting CDC guidance by continuing to dismantle homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic, though it does not have nearly enough shelter space.

As of April 30, one in three unsheltered people have been arrested in Miami-Dade County since a local state of emergency was declared in March.

There are certain universal human needs that any governing structure — from local to federal — is responsible for. Among these are housing, healthcare, education, public parks, clean water, and clean air — the things that make life beautiful. These needs touch every single living being and as such, are non-negotiable. They do not belong on the open market.

Taking emergency measures to protect homeless people from the pandemic is simply common sense.

Cascading crises have significantly increased the stakes for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

It should not take a global pandemic for our elected officials to acknowledge that we are all safer if everyone can shower and wash their hands.

How California, which is home to more than half of the country’s unsheltered homeless population, is addressing the needs of the unhoused.

The city is ramping up a cleanup program that activists fear will worsen the criminalization of homelessness.

Leading with housing status for homeless people is a common trope in the news reporting business and one in urgent need of re-examining.

A fiery debate outlined what’s at stake in the race to lead the largest prosecutor’s office in the country.

As a form of punishment, incarceration does not enhance public safety when it is not balanced against its tendency to make a person’s unfortunate situation worse.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. “Donald Trump has long understood that he can leverage homelessness to motivate people,” writes David Graham for The Atlantic. “In the early 1980s, the developer was desperate to get […]