Homeless Courts: Help or Hindrance?
On August 6th the Senate Committee on Public Safety Heard a proposed bill to create a homeless courts pilot project: Assembly Bill 2899.
The purpose of this bill is to establish a four year homeless courts pilot project in Sacramento County, the City and County of San Francisco, and a third County to be selected by the Judicial Council. The intention of this legislation as stated by its author, Assemblywoman Carol Migden, is as follows: The Homeless Court Pilot Project (HCP) would help homeless people to dispose of certain criminal charges that could act as a barrier to accessing services. Relatively minor offenses would be addressed in a homeless court, which would be set up in the shelters, and hearings would be conducted on a monthly basis. It would offer alternative sentencing to these charges provided that the homeless individual plead guilty and waive their rights to a jury trial.
The question is how do those who would be affected by this legislation — homeless people — feel about the idea of a homeless court? Though the intentions of this legislation may seem noble, a recent survey revealed that most homeless people are opposed to the creation of a homeless court in San Francisco. They feel a homeless court system would isolate them from the rest of society, making them second class citizens. First, the individual would have to plead guilty and waive their right to due process.
Second, there’s no guarantee of moving people out of shelters and into permanent housing, job training and treatment.
So, what’s the point? A Homeless Court would do nothing but perpetuate an endless cycle of despair. Not only does it create another layer of bureaucracy, but once the machinery is in place, will it ever be dismantled? Homeless courts do nothing to change the laws that affect homeless people such as the ubiquitous “Quality of Life” offenses, which essentially make it a crime to be homeless. Every day hundreds of citations are given to people who sleep or camp on streets or in parks, Because of these laws homeless people get criminal records, and thereby caught into this endless cycle of the criminal justice system. Homeless courts do not address the causes of homelessness.
It would just create more hurdles for homeless people to jump over. Instead of creating a separate court system on homelessness, let’s repeal the laws which make it a crime to be homeless.
When the Senate Committee on Public Safety heard the proposed legislation, it felt that AB 2899 was not specific enough on what offenses would be addressed and what the definition of homelessness is. The bill was amended by Assemblywoman Carol Migden and was able to make it out of the public safety committee.
However, no city was attached to the legislation — meaning that the Governor would have to sign the bill in order for it to be implemented in any county.
The Homeless Court Pilot Project will not likely see the light of day here in San Francisco, at least not anytime soon. But there is a dangerous trend happening in our cities, creating systems which separate us by class, is no solution. Homeless Courts are a prime example of this. They are discriminatory, alienating, and do little if anything to resolve the plight of homeless people.
Steven Chester