EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

DECRIMINALIZING : WHY RIGHT TO REST LEGISLATION IS THE HIGH ROAD FOR 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon prepared this report with the assistance of our dedicated staff, volunteers, and community partners. We would like to thank the following individuals for their invaluable contributions to this project.

Heather Marek, a law and sociology student at the University of Oregon, researched and drafted the report.

Katie Sawicki wrote the executive summary and introduction and interviewed people for the spotlights.

Zoe La Du, Corrine Fletcher, Elena Stross, and Franz Bruggemeier helped compile data on municipal and county ordinances.

Special thanks to: Ibrahim, Mel, Cara, and Dakota for sharing their stories.

Paul Boden, Coral Feigin, and the other staff and volunteers with the Western Regional Advocacy Project which includes Right 2 Survive, Sisters Of The Road and Street Roots in Oregon.

Alision McIntosh of Neighborhood Partnerships.

DECRIMINALIZING HOMELESSNESS: Why Right to Rest legislation is the High Road for Oregon

Copyright© 2017 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon All rights reserved.

ACLU of Oregon P.O. Box 40585 Portland, OR 97240 503.227.3186 [email protected] www.aclu-or.org ACLU of Oregon

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

NOTE: All of the information in this summary can be found in the full report with comprehensive citations.

SUMMARY economic hardship, housing instability, lack When enough hardships collide—you lose your of access to services, and unemployment all job, healthcare, food stamps, housing, leave play in homelessness. Right to Rest sets us on a domestic violence situation—you end up a path that replaces outdated, inhumane, and with no place to go. Before you can get back ine‰ective laws with solutions that protect on your feet, you need to survive- to sleep, and respect the health and well-being of eat, bathe, and seek shelter. Many of Oregon’s people facing incredible di‰iculties. city and state laws punish you for this. Instead of sleeping and resting, you are harassed, AN URGENCY TO ACT constantly moved, criminalized, and pushed to In recent years, homelessness in rural and new levels of exhaustion and poor health. urban Oregon is on the rise. Whether we are one rent increase away from eviction, have Our research reveals an entire legal a family member living unsheltered, or are infrastructure in Oregon that makes meeting unhoused ourselves, homelessness can a‰ect basic survival needs illegal in public spaces. us all. It disproportionately impacts children, We analyzed local laws in 69 cities statewide military vets, families, people of color, that impact unhoused communities—people grandparents, trans women of color, women experiencing homelessness. We found 224 laws escaping domestic violence situations, LGBTQ that create clear barriers to performing life youth, and people with disabilities. sustaining activities and legalize the unfair and harmful treatment of unhoused communities. Oregon has recently experienced the largest growth of any state in its chronically homeless Laws that criminalize poverty and population. Low incomes, high rents and lack homelessness punish individuals and families of a‰ordable housing units are the leading for systemic inequities. This punitive approach cause. Oregon is an increasingly expensive is counterproductive, costly, and devastating state to live in with the lowest vacancy rate to a person’s health. It stalls progress by failing in the country. Growth in median household to address root causes and fueling stereotypes income continues to lag. Current law upholds and prejudices that divide housed and no cause evictions and prohibits rent unhoused communities. stabilization. Portland alone experienced the largest increase in median rent of any US Oregon has an opportunity to course correct. city in 2015. The compounding e‰ect of these The Right to Rest Act decriminalizes rest and factors has fueled housing instability and prohibits discrimination based on housing launched us into the crisis we see today. status. It also acknowledges the role that ACLU of Oregon

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IBRAHIM, PORTLAND “They wake you up in the dead of sleep and you have to walk around in the cold and rain trying to find a new place. When you finally get settled, an hour later, they move you again.”

When Ibrahim came to Portland and became a part of the houseless community, he found a series of obstacles that kept him from sleeping, resting, forming camps and the community he needed to survive. Most nights were the same. He would finally find a place away from the cold and rain and then the police would wake him up and make him move. Another time, he was so tired, he sat down on a curb to rest for a minute. The police immediately began questioning him about drugs.

“When you have no sleep like that, you don’t really know what is going on around you. Your whole body is telling you it can’t go any more. It’s screaming. Your legs won’t move. Your eyes won’t open. You start developing mental issues. I was so exhausted.”

At the same time, homelessness is exacerbated temporarily living in jails or hospitals, or couch by inequities that persist in education, surfing. Due to varying definitions and data employment, healthcare, and domestic sources, we do not have a comprehensive violence. Without proper services, this reality count. Oregon’s Department of Education, for continues to push individuals out of their example, reported over 21,000 students who homes. Oregon has already seen the third experienced homelessness between 2015 - 16. highest increase in the country in the unhoused population. Without adequate policy change, HUD’s 2015 Annual Point-In-Time survey our current reality guarantees this number will counted just over 13,100 adults and children only grow. combined experiencing . The HUD statistics are believed UNHOUSED COMMUNITIES to widely underreport the problem of Unhoused communities include adults homelessness, and only provide a snapshot of and children living without a stable home, the number of unhoused individuals on one sometimes unsheltered, in , night in January. Decriminalizing Homelessness: Why Right to Rest legislation is the High Road for Oregon

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Nevertheless, it reported that almost all repealed, the fundamental approach has not communities of color, especially African changed. Americans and Native Americans, are overrepresented in the unhoused population; Cities have since taken on additional strategies, a fiœh are victims of domestic violence; nearly such as targeting street-level misdemeanors, a third are families; and one in seven have that implicitly and explicitly call for the a serious mental illness, and one in ten is a harassment and removal of houseless people. veteran. Three-quarters of Oregon’s chronically Local governments have used outdated state homeless communities are unsheltered. statutes to supplement their own anti-homeless laws or to target specific conduct. This legacy of HISTORY OF CRIMINALIZATION abusive policy provides the foundation for the The US and Oregon have a long a history of laws we see today. punishing the poor and unhoused. It began with laws aimed at criminalizing loitering, roaming, idleness, unemployment, begging and sleeping outdoors. While some laws have been

CARA “In my 14 and ½ years on the streets, so many things happened to me. I was held captive. I lost my children. I never had a moment to rest. It was beyond exhausting.”

When she didn’t make it to a shelter on time or a rest stop with other people, she was on her own. She’d start out at the safe spots she knew in downtown Eugene. Over the course of a night, she’d wake up to her dog barking and a stranger standing over her telling her to move. She’d pack up quickly, oœen in the rain, and move onto the next spot. Many nights, she was forced out of town towards the wetlands.

“You are out here by yourself. When you finally get away from downtown and the police harassing you, you then have to worry about other people. And if you got pushed far enough out, you’d have to worry about cougars.” ACLU of Oregon

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OUR FINDINGS

We researched and analyzed local laws Restrictions extend beyond simply sleeping influencing and a‰ecting people experiencing and camping. For those individuals that have homelessness in Oregon’s 75 most populous access to the security of a car, bus, trailer, or RV, cities. Our analysis also included findings from sleeping may still be a crime. Thirty-one cities interviews conducted by Western Regional in Oregon restrict sleeping in one’s vehicle even Advocacy Project of 565 unhoused Oregonians. if it is in a normal parking place and posing no safety hazard. Our research revealed 224 laws that restrict, criminalize, and punish people for performing Curfew laws target unhoused youth. Forty- life sustaining activities in a public space. This four cities and seven counties have curfews includes meeting basic health and sanitation that penalize minors who are on the streets needs and giving or receiving help from our unaccompanied by an adult during nighttime neighbors. We focused on laws that fall into four hours. Eight in 10 unaccompanied, unhoused main categories, aiming to limit or prohibit, youth have no shelter and have to sleep in public without an adult. They oœen sleep in 1. standing, sitting, and resting in public highly visible places for safety, and curfew laws places; push them to remote areas where they are 2. sleeping, camping, and lodging in public vulnerable to victimization. places, including in vehicles; 3. begging, panhandling, and soliciting; and People experiencing homelessness 4. loitering. overwhelmingly report being harassed for sleeping. According to street outreach WHEN SLEEPING IS A CRIME conducted by Western Regional Advocacy Sleep is one of our most basic needs—but all Project (WRAP), 94 percent of people surveyed across Oregon it is becoming a crime to sleep in reported being harassed for sleeping in public public spaces. A majority of cities and counties and 51 percent were cited for sleeping. Eighty- surveyed have laws that prohibit sleeping or four percent were harassed for sleeping in a camping. There are approximately 125 laws vehicle and 41 percent were cited for this. that outlaw some form of sleeping or camping in public spaces. These restrictions range from permit requirements and curfews, to general prohibitions on temporary structures/shelters, including tents. Twenty-seven cities outlaw sleeping or camping anywhere in public. Decriminalizing Homelessness: Why Right to Rest legislation is the High Road for Oregon

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WHEN RESTING IS A CRIME Mental and physical health rely on an ability to rest without constant disruption, harassment, MEL, EUGENE or fear of retaliation for sitting or standing in “I was teaching kids, working in the public. Yet our findings revealed 48 cities and school district. Having to wake up in the two counties have laws specifically outlawing morning, find a shower somewhere and sitting, standing, and resting in a public space. get to work on time was an obstacle every day. Having to be productive was These cities most commonly do so by even harder. I was so sleep deprived.” prohibiting the obstruction of pedestrian or vehicular tra‰ic on any sidewalk, street, Mel was houseless on and o‰ in her life, or common area. Some cities also prohibit but one six-month spell in Eugene was overnight obstructions and others prevent especially hard. The lack of sleep made obstruction with personal property or other work nearly impossible. To alleviate objects. These laws are designed to keep some of stress she had for her safety, unhoused individuals “moving along”, despite she tried to camp with other people the lack of evidence that they are creating a whenever she could. safety hazard. “There were too many predators Compounding citations can result in heœy providing shelter to women, o‰ering a legal and financial penalties, but the cost to place to shower and wash their clothes, a person’s stress level is high. WRAP’s street and then sexually assaulting them.” outreach revealed that every single person interviewed reported being harassed for But they had to stay in small numbers loitering or hanging out and nearly half were in order to keep the camps from being cited for loitering. broken up. The larger the group the more likely you were to be run o‰. WHEN BASIC SANITATION “You would finally start to create a safe IS A CRIME space with people you trust. The police Other laws have also made staying clean and would break us up.” healthy a crime. Over half of the cities surveyed outlaw fulfilling basic health needs in public. While this can include urinating or defecating in public places, these cities do so without providing su‰icient facilities to accommodate public need. Other cities go as far as to prohibit using bathrooms or other sources of water to clean oneself. ACLU of Oregon

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WHEN SURVIVING IS A CRIME WHEN HELPING IS A CRIME When no other options are available, unhoused Some cities go as far as to limit those who want individuals may need to ask for help. Twenty to help. Property owners, including churches, cities in our sample have laws restricting businesses, or private citizens, face a variety panhandling and begging. In eleven cities, of legal hurdles in trying to provide space or they have total bans on begging or soliciting reprieve. Nine cities impose restrictions on in public places. Cities have also attempted when and if a person can camp or sleep on to work around constitutional challenges by private property. Six of these cities restrict specifically outlawing “abusive” or “aggressive” situations under which a property owner can panhandling or solicitation. Some cities have host a camper, for example, by limiting the gone as far as to prohibit panhandling for the number of consecutive hours or the total days purpose of trying to ensure public spaces for in a given timeframe. visitors that protect the “economic vitality” that tourism brings to the city. Oregon state law restricts religious institutions from accommodating more than three vehicles Finally, civil exclusion laws make it legal to with people living in them at one time. They ban individuals from a particular geographic also require sanitation facilities be provided. region, such as a government building, parks, Laws that limit the ability to help unhoused neighborhoods, downtown districts, or any community members, further divides housed public property. These laws exist across the and unhoused communities and limits state and in a variety of forms that typically innovative, community-based solutions. use minor infractions, like sleeping or camping in a public space, to constitute legal grounds “Transfer laws” outlaw giving and receiving. for exclusion. Exclusion orders allow cities to Seven cities have implemented unlawful banish “undesirables” from the public eye. This transfer laws. While functioning under the oœen happens in urban development regions, guise of tra‰ic safety, these laws prohibit pushing the visible e‰ects of poverty and drivers and passengers of vehicles from giving homelessness to more remote neighborhoods. money or other tangible personal property to a Doing so exacerbates issues of isolation and pedestrian while on a highway, road, or street. danger facing many unhoused people. These laws also prohibit pedestrians from accepting such items. Decriminalizing Homelessness: Why Right to Rest legislation is the High Road for Oregon

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IMPLICATIONS

Homelessness makes it nearly impossible for Finally, criminalization oœen leads to the children to go to school, parents to work, and confiscation and destruction of important families and individuals to be healthy and feel personal property, including medication, connected. But criminalizing homelessness identifications, family memorabilia, and guarantees an even harder road; and one that shelters. comes with grave social and economic costs. A VIOLATION OF RIGHTS AND HEALTH AND WELL-BEING The cumulative toll that lack of sleep, rest, LIBERTIES Criminalization violates the rights and liberties food, and safety takes on a person’s physical of unhoused people. Anti-camping ordinances and mental health is immense. Being roused have been deemed unconstitutional under and ousted through the night, moving place to the Eighth Amendment when people have no place, the stress of not being free to rest, stand, alternatives. This ban was therefore considered eat, in public spaces can cause severe fatigue. cruel and unusual. Many laws highlighted in this At the same time, the challenges of severe report also raise similar civil rights and liberties poverty, economic insecurity, exposure to the we need to address. elements, physical disabilities, abuse from housed people, and mental health issues, also greatly impact health. IT LIMITS OREGON Criminalizing homelessness is also expensive to JUSTICE SYSTEM enforce, using police, court, and jail resources. Utilizing punitive measures that rely on criminal INVOLVEMENT justice system resources is far more costly As we have laid out in this report, Oregon law than investments in support and prevention has made almost all aspects of basic survival services. It continues to send many of the same and daily living a crime for unhoused people. people back into the criminal justice system This means that for many, citations, arrest, for o‰enses they cannot help doing. Uploading court fees, police encounters, criminal records, laws that continue to tap public dollars without all go hand in hand with living unhoused, stopping cycles of criminal justice involvement especially for those who are unsheltered. are not as cost e‰ective as addressing root Criminal justice involvement has severe causes head on. implications on life success. Oregon’s cities and counties currently Criminal justice backgrounds significantly uphold laws and practices that foster poor reduce access to jobs, renting a home, receiving public perceptions of people experiencing social services and other related services. Court homelessness. They exacerbate the divide fees can create debt and result in additional between unhoused and housed communities. fines, incarceration, and other punitive This has fueled strategies that further sanctions. Compounding debt for unhoused criminalize homelessness. individuals can make saving what is needed to move into stable housing insurmountable. ACLU of Oregon

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SOLUTIONS

RIGHT TO REST impacted by homelessness,in partnership with legal and policy experts, and is evidence- The Right to Rest Act, landmark legislation based. It o‰ers a solution that will meaningfully from the Homeless Bill of Rights movement, improve the lives of people experiencing protects the rights of unhoused individuals by homelessness. (a) prohibiting discrimination in public spaces based on housing status; (b) extending privacy In addition to providing basic relief to unhoused rights to people experiencing homelessness; (c) people, this approach is a critical step towards a‰irming the rights of houseless individuals to long-term change that addresses root causes. use public spaces, rest (sit, stand, and sleep), The Right to Rest Act acknowledges the role eat and share food, pray, and occupy a legally that economic hardship, a shortage of safe parked vehicle free from harassment, citation and a‰ordable housing, unemployment or arrest, (d) providing a defense to civil and and a dwindling social safety net play criminal charges imposed for merely engaging in homelessness. It decriminalizes basic in these rights, and (e) allowing the Bureau of life-sustaining activities and allows local Labor and Industries and private attorneys to governments to redirect resources from enforce these protections through civil actions. enforcement to activities that address root Additional legislation recommended by the causes of homelessness and poverty. Homeless Bill of Rights movement includes (a) ensuring unhoused individuals have 24-hour Shiœing our approach to homelessness access to hygiene facilities; (2) ensuring that from punishment to prevention,begins with individuals have legal counsel if charged; and establishing a shared understanding of what is (3) requiring judges to allow individuals to use humane and deserving of all people, regardless necessity defense in any prosecution dealing of housing status. Right to Rest is a giant step with homeless-related legal issues. forward in achieving this. The Right to Rest Act is a first step in changing the way we treat our unhoused REPEALING STATEWIDE ANTI- communities. Western Regional Advocacy HOMELESS LAWS Project has led a grassroots movement The Oregon Legislature can also have a for Right to Rest legislation that is gaining positive impact on the rights of the unhoused momentum in multiple states with help from by repealing laws that get in the way of real the nation’s leading homeless rights advocacy solutions. For example, the state law that organizations, including the National Law restricts the ability of municipalities to establish Center on Homelessness and Poverty and more than two campgrounds for providing the National Coalition for the Homeless. This transitional housing accommodations; and the legislation was developed by people most state law that prohibits religious institutions Decriminalizing Homelessness: Why Right to Rest legislation is the High Road for Oregon

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SOLUTIONS

from accommodating more than three Governments should cultivate understanding overnight camping spaces to unhoused people among the housed community about living in their vehicles. homelessness, including public education about poverty, homelessness, and the civil PUBLIC EDUCATION AND rights and liberties of unhoused individuals. Policymakers can also develop programs that OUTREACH bring diverse groups together and encourage Public perception of unhoused communities intermingling and cooperation. Finally, is rooted in a lack of education, fear, and bias policymakers and the broader community towards people experiencing poverty and could develop a better understanding of homelessness. These stereotypes play a major unhoused individuals and their experiences role in fostering public anxiety and unease, and needs by engaging them in the process of which pressure city o‰icials and politicians planning and making policy decisions. to perpetuate criminalization. Instead of limiting our ability to liœ up communities most impacted by economic inequity, poor health, and no housing, we should work to create pathways to prosperity. DECRIMINALIZING HOMELESSNESS: Why Right to Rest legislation is the High Road for Oregon

Copyright© 2017 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon All rights reserved.

ACLU of Oregon P.O. Box 40585 Portland, OR 97240 503.227.3186 [email protected] www.aclu-or.org