The Occupy Movement & the Criminalization of Homelessness

The Occupy protests have been going on since July 30, 2011, beginning with Occupy Dataran in Kuala Lumpur, continuing onward with Occupy Wall Street, thereafter. Occupy protests have been organized by more than 2,000 US cities and towns.

During the course of this movement, there have been more than 3,600 arrests, a number of which being done during pre-dawn raids, in an effort to shut down these camps. Cities such as New York City, have cited that the camps need to be shut down because of all the money it is costing the cities being protested in. Extra money is being put forth for sanitation & over-time hours for police officers. But isn’t this the point? To draw people’s attention to the unbalance of power happening, until something changes? The job un-employment rate is at an all-time high; meanwhile companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owe the government a combined total of $150 Billion post-bailout, according to the LA Times. Yet the CEOs of both companies could stand to take home $6 million each in 2011. Though a recent House panel, voted considerably in favor of suspending large exec compensation packages, to align their pay with what government employees make. In addition to that these two companies are asking the taxpayers for $7.8 billion more to cover losses from this summer/fall. The poor getting poorer, and the rich getting richer. If the taxpayers had their say, they would vote for their money to go elsewhere.

Times are getting tougher and rougher as we go along. In February of this year, a Seattle, WA man held up a convenient store for $300.00, being very apologetic, saying, “I’ve got rent to pay and bills and the kids need to eat.” He was so apologetic, in fact, that the store owner actually felt bad for him. Times are so rough, we are stealing from each other to survive, there aren’t enough jobs to go around, and the homeless rate is at an all-time high. In some cities it is even illegal to be homeless. One Occupy protest, Occupy Seaside http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Seaside-Oregon/252994334745080 chose to make this the main focus of their protest. Many of the other protests have failed to assert a common goal for why they are protesting.

Seaside, Oregon is a small, coastal town about 2 miles long. This town is kept pretty clean, a town where maybe some might feel safe leaving their doors unlocked at night, or while they run to the local store. A town where most know each other, and people wave and say hi, even to strangers. It is also a place where being homeless is criminalized. This town is one of many that would simply not survive, if not for tourism. During the week, Seaside is a quiet place to live most of the time. But during the weekends, and all summer long, it is often crammed and over-populated with tourists, who come from all over. Who wants to come to a nice little beach town with their family to see homeless people camping on the beach, or in areas where tourists are likely to visit? But at the same time, what right does the city have to tell people who have basically have nothing, where they can or cannot sleep, when those city employees have warm beds and hot meals every night? It has been argued that the illegal lodging ordinance should extend only to the tourist populated areas, and not the entire city. It is not as if the homeless population can simply move somewhere where being homeless is not criminalized. The participants of Occupy Seaside marched to Seaside City Hall, and defied the illegal lodging ordinance by camping out, in front of the building in plain sight, over a 3 day period. No permit was sought, but also no arrests were made either. The camp out ended with a Seaside City Council Meeting, in which Occupy Seaside Organizer, spoke to the council about the inhumane nature of the illegal lodging ordinance. In 1997, it was perfectly legal for all to camp out on the beach overnight for the town’s 4th of July celebration, but that too, has in the years since, been outlawed as well. We live in a time where we should be more humane and kind to one another. We should also be knowledgeable, that just because we are not faced with the economic hardship of being homeless, does not mean it does not exist.

As of 2003 more than 85 U.S. cities have criminalized homelessness, with many of the larger cities having negative reports of how said criminalization is being enforced. With respect to the cities that makes such laws, we all should have the right to lie our head down somewhere each night.


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