Brooke Jenkins’ Voters Got The Dead People They Wanted
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.
Jerry Iannelli May 24, 2023
Phoenix Is Clearing Its Largest Homeless Encampment. The ACLU Says It’s Breaking the Law.
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.
Meg O'Connor May 18, 2023
‘Justice for Jordan Neely’ Means Investing in Housing, Social Services
Neely’s killing is once again a reminder that carceral approaches to homelessness reproduce, rather than ameliorate, poverty.
Leah Goodridge May 18, 2023
How Parole Conditions Trapped Me in Homelessness
The severe restrictions I face while on supervision effectively serve as a ban on stable housing. The terms of this arrangement have left me technically homeless, forced to live in a motel.
Wes Vaughan May 09, 2023
As Florida’s Unhoused Sex Offense Registrant Population Booms, Group Asks UN for Help
South Florida’s political leaders have celebrated their commitment to the unhoused—but won’t admit that those placed on offense registries are increasingly becoming unhoused.
Steven Yoder Mar 21, 2023
California Politicians are Disguising Homeless Sweeps as “Care”
Newsom’s measure—called “CARE Court”—paves the way for family members, state officials, and first responders to force more unhoused people into court-ordered treatment programs for a period of up to two years.
Jerry Iannelli Jan 25, 2023
NYC Advocates Fear More Police Violence, Homeless Criminalization Amid Forced Hospitalizations
New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued a directive this week that puts police at the center of renewed efforts to remove people exhibiting signs of mental illness from public spaces.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 01, 2022
A New Class of Candidates Seeks to Transform L.A.’s Approach to Housing, Justice
After a scandal engulfed some of L.A.’s most powerful politicians, a slate of progressive candidates is running on new approaches for tackling homelessness and mass incarceration.
Francisco Aviles Pino Nov 08, 2022
How American Public Spaces Became so Criminalized—and How We Can Win Them Back
On September 23, 2020, a Black man died for the alleged crime of crossing the street the wrong way. His death was due in large part to America’s long history of criminalizing public spaces and our existence in them.
Nneka Ewulonu Sep 21, 2022
28 Years, 160 Arrests: What One Man’s Record Reveals About San Diego’s Broken Justice System
What do you do with people who are repeatedly failed by social services and the legal system?
Kelly Davis Jul 11, 2022
How Los Angeles Created the Playbook for a Nationwide War on the Unhoused
As politicians look to build public support for homeless encampment sweeps, they’re using tactics popularized in LA—the site of one of the nation’s most intense battles over the unhoused.
Jonny Coleman May 26, 2022
A Coalition Led by Philly’s Homeless Youth Wants to Change How Cities Help the Unhoused
Every Thursday morning, the Philly Homes 4 Youth (PH4Y) Coalition hosts a weekly virtual workspace for its members. The coalition of young advocates, youth workers, and non-profit administrators have been strategizing together since at least 2016 to improve care for young people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. But lately, the group’s meetings have taken on a more urgent tone: Tens of millions in federal COVID-19 relief funding is currently up for grabs in Philadelphia, and the coalition wants to ensure at least 20 percent of the money goes to youth services.
Rashni Stanford Mar 22, 2022
A Homeless Man Has Spent 800 Days At Rikers After Stealing Cold Medicine. Now His Prison Sentence May Be Beginning.
Blind in one eye and at risk of losing vision in the other, 58-year-old Reginald Randolph is now on the verge of being sent to state prison to serve out a maximum of four years in state prison.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Nov 02, 2021
Los Angeles County Homeless Residents Say Sheriff’s Department Is Targeting Them
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.
Francisco Aviles Pino Jun 04, 2021
Maryland Could Be the First State to Provide Lawyers for Tenants Facing Eviction
A bill passed by the state legislature, but yet to be enacted, would offer access to counsel for low-income renters.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 16, 2021
What New York City’s Next Mayor Can Do to Solve the Homelessness Crisis
Creating a commission and a new deputy mayor of housing will give directly impacted people a much-needed voice in government—and help ensure a right to housing for all.
Shams DaBaron Apr 13, 2021
San Antonio’s Response to Homelessness Is Broken. It’s Time to Put Housing First
Shelters are not meeting people’s needs, and the city is clearing encampments, says City Councilmember Roberto Treviño.
Roberto Treviño Apr 09, 2021
Anchorage’s Anti-Homeless Movement May Elect the City’s Next Mayor
One of the leading candidates for Anchorage’s mayoral race is backed by a far-right Facebook group tied to the U.S. Capitol riot.
Jerry Iannelli Mar 23, 2021
This Election Could Decide St. Louis’s Future
The four candidates vying to replace the mayor are each promising to build a better St. Louis, and in a little over a week, voters will decide which visions they endorse.
Meg O'Connor Feb 22, 2021
San Antonio Bulldozed a Homeless Encampment. Then the Winter Storms Started.
Now, advocacy groups are struggling to keep unhoused people safe.
Jerry Iannelli Feb 19, 2021
Washington State’s Most Populous County Curbed Covid-19 Among The Homeless By Moving Them To Hotels. But One Local Government Fought Back.
Seattle suburb Renton is battling an emergency homeless shelter through its zoning code.
Rachel M. Cohen Feb 10, 2021
New York City Mayoral Candidates Blast de Blasio’s Housing Record
In a forum with people experiencing homelessness, Democratic candidates criticized the mayor’s affordable housing plans, embraced a ‘right to housing,’ and rejected police intervention on homelessness calls.
Chris Gelardi Feb 05, 2021
Carroll Fife’s Fight For Unhoused Mothers Sparked A Movement Across The Country. Now She’s On The Oakland City Council Ready To Transform The City.
Fife has pledged to reinvest in the local community, aggressively combat the housing crisis, address income inequality, education, healthcare and more.
Eoin Higgins Nov 09, 2020
Candace Valenzuela Is Running to Give All People a Chance at the American Dream
If she’s successful in her bid to represent Texas’s 24th Congressional District, Valenzuela will flip the district to blue and become the first Black and Latinx member of Congress.
Joshua Vaughn Oct 30, 2020
Philadelphia Housing Advocates Declare Victory After Monthslong Battle With City
The city will give advocates 50 vacant homes to be used for permanent housing for low-income residents, according to a tentative agreement.
Joshua Vaughn Sep 29, 2020
The Struggle Against A Stadium’s Construction Became A Battle for the Soul Of Los Angeles
Sports venues like the new SoFi Stadium have been crushing poor communities around the country for over a century.
Jonny Coleman Sep 10, 2020
Economic Insecurity Brought On By COVID-19 Threatens To Disenfranchise Millions Of Voters
Between the global pandemic and a nationwide economic crisis, voting rights advocates see a ‘perfect storm of barriers’ ahead that could prevent millions of people from casting a ballot in November.
Eoin Higgins Sep 03, 2020
Philadelphia Housing Authority Is Failing at Its Mission, Advocates Say
Although the agency has vacant properties, public housing has been out of reach for nearly a decade for many who need it.
Joshua Vaughn Aug 06, 2020
‘It’s Feudalism, Pure Exploitation’
The Doe Fund says it pays homeless and formerly incarcerated people New York City’s minimum wage of $15 per hour. But the nonprofit charges weekly fees that can drive their wages below the federal minimum of $7.25.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem Jul 29, 2020
How The Largest Known Homeless Encampment In Minneapolis History Came To Be
The frustrations of residents in the Powderhorn neighborhood, not far from where George Floyd was killed, have gotten some national coverage. But the homelessness crisis in the city isn’t new, and it could soon get worse.
Rachel M. Cohen Jul 15, 2020
Extreme Summer Heat Is Endangering Homeless People Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
As a ‘heat dome’ descends on much of the country and local governments scramble to provide safe refuges, concern grows over the effect of a disease that has ‘totally demolished the homeless people.’
Daniel Moritz-Rabson Jul 13, 2020
COVID-19 Hit New York City Homeless Shelters Hard, But Some Are Forced to Stay There
Many city residents who’ve served time for sexual crimes have families who want them back, but a 19-year-old law keeps them away.
Steven Yoder Jul 08, 2020
Community-Based Emergency First Responders: Explained
In our Explainer series, Justice Collaborative lawyers, journalists, and other legal experts help unpack some of the most complicated issues in the criminal justice system. We break down the problems behind the headlines—like bail, civil asset forfeiture, or the Brady doctrine—so that everyone can understand them. Wherever possible, we try to utilize the stories of […]
Patrisse Cullors, Tim Black Jun 25, 2020
The Toll That Curfews Have Taken On Homeless Americans
The country’s homeless population was already struggling to access services during the pandemic.
Kira Lerner Jun 10, 2020
The L.A. Mayor’s ‘Unacceptable’ Budget Would Deprive Those In Need And Accelerate The City’s Slide Toward A Police State
The City Council must not let Mayor Eric Garcetti’s unconscionable priorities dictate how Los Angeles responds to the COVID-19 crisis.
May 21, 2020
Housing the Formerly Incarcerated Should Be A Fundamental Right, Especially in a Pandemic
States must fund stable housing for all formerly incarcerated people to neutralize the spread of COVID-19 and create equitable opportunities for social reintegration.
Demar F. Lewis IV May 18, 2020
COVID-19 Exposes Stark Inequalities Across U.S. As Thousands Struggle Daily To Find Food
‘It’s not only poor people standing in food lines, or going to food pantries and soup kitchens. Now you have the middle class and businesses that are suffering, too,’ one organizer said.
Elizabeth Brico May 07, 2020
Despite Coronavirus Warnings, Miami Area Police Are Still Arresting Hundreds of Homeless People
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.
Jerry Iannelli May 07, 2020
Housing Is A Human Right. It Should Not Be Predicated On The Money In One’s Pocket.
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.
Molly Beckhardt, Paul Boden, June LS Apr 24, 2020
The Battle to Convert California Hotels into Housing Has Begun
Elected officials need to stop making excuses for not getting unhoused people into hotel rooms.
Jonny Coleman Apr 24, 2020