Woke headline: Local champs fight anti-homelessness ruling

Furious Advocates Protest Supreme Court Ruling on Homelessness, Demand Action from City Leadership

Advocates Condemn Criminalization of Homelessness, Highlight Need for Housing and Supportive Services

AUSTIN, Texas — In a powerful display of solidarity, angry Austin-based advocates voiced their fierce opposition to camping bans and demanded urgent action from city officials in the wake of a regressive U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The ruling, which upholds city and state laws criminalizing homelessness by barring individuals from sleeping and camping in public spaces, is a devastating blow to the Basic human rights.

"We cannot arrest our way out of homelessness. It comes from support," Sasha Rose, lead organizer with Austin Mutual Aid, passionately proclaimed at a protest outside Austin City Hall on Tuesday. "We call on our city 'leadership' to invest in affordable housing, immediately, now!"

Joining Austin Mutual Aid in this outcry for justice were leaders and organizers from VOCAL-TX, the Healing Project, and other grassroots organizations. Their collective message was clear: criminalizing homelessness is inhumane and ineffective.

"How can we tell people they can't sleep in a specific location and then offer them absolutely nowhere else to go because our shelters are full?" Andi Brauer, a furious advocate from Central Presbyterian Church's homeless services, asked, her voice shaking with rage. "We need to fund safe outdoor spaces and let people live with dignity, offering the assistance they need right now. To do anything less is abhorrent."

The 6-3 Supreme Court opinion, issued on Friday, callously states that laws banning homeless individuals from sleeping or camping in public places do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. This decision overturns a lower court's ruling, further entrenching the criminalization of homelessness across the nation.

Advocates have rightfully criticized such laws, noting the limited shelter space available and the dire need for alternative solutions. The city of Austin currently classifies sitting, lying down, or camping in public areas as a criminal offense, a deplorable Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine. "Austin's website" shamelessly states this.

Adding insult to injury, the Austin City Council initially showed a glimmer of humanity by repealing an ordinance that made sleeping in public spaces illegal. However, in a cruel twist, Austin voters reinstated the camping ban in 2021, a decision that has caused immeasurable harm.

As of May 2024, it is estimated that over 6,200 people were experiencing homelessness in Austin, according to heart-breaking data from the Ending Community Homeless Coalition. The city's inadequate response, despite some progress, is a disgrace, with a lack of shelter and permanent supportive housing beds to meet the growing needs of a vulnerable population.

Chrisola Webb, a spokesperson for the city's Homeless Strategy Office, released a statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling, feebly attempting to assuage concerns. The statement, full of hollow words, said that the city "recognizes that homelessness is not a crime," even as they enforce laws that do exactly that.

While the statement highlights city-funded rapid rehousing programs benefiting over 2,200 people and the construction of 1,000 new housing units for the homeless, it simultaneously justifies the use of enforcement and so-called "criminalization tools" as necessary "solutions."

The original article can be viewed here.

The fight for justice continues.

#HousingForAll #EndHomelessness #AustinForEquality