[HPN] Cleveland Homeless Prevail - Federal Court Stops Police Sweeps - NEOCH fwd NEOCH fwd

[Tom Boland]

FWD 16 Feb 2000
CC REPLIES TO: <neoch@bbs2.rmrc.net> (Northeast Coalition for the Homeless)

Please feel free to use this article in any of the NASNA street newspapers.
It is long stretches between victories.

HOMELESS PREVAIL IN FEDERAL COURT AND STOP SIDEWALK SWEEPS

 Three homeless individuals and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the
Homeless settled with the City of Cleveland to stop the sweeps of homeless
people from the sidewalks.  This means that City officials cannot use
disorderly conduct statutes against homeless people who are sleeping,
eating, walking or sitting on the sidewalk.
    Three individuals came forward to assure that others would not be
threatened with arrest for being homeless.  Cornell Carter, Law Director for
the City of Cleveland said in a December 23, 1999 press conference, "It is
clear that the city's enforcement effort is not only legal it is
humanitarian."  The three individuals and the many other affidavits that the
Coalition for the Homeless took show a more inhumane treatment of people who
look transient.   One individual was put in custody for accepting food on
the sidewalk.  Another was told by police that he could not be walking on
the sidewalk after 9 p.m. and had to get into shelter.
    One individual, Ronald Russell, was told to move along 12 times as he
greeted people in the morning at the welfare building with a friendly "good
morning."  The police officer told him that he was no longer welcome in the
area.  Another individual, Jason Maiden, was told he had to keep moving or
he would be arrested. The suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union
and the Coalition for the Homeless is aimed at stopping the threat of arrest
by City officials for the crime of using the sidewalk while homeless.
    The City of Cleveland agreed to a court supervised consent decree to
prevent the case from going to trial in federal court.  The Mayor claimed
that they are just enforcing existing laws and attempting to help homeless
people in a press conference at First Church.  A federal judge had extended
a temporary restraining order through the trial date, which exempted the
Downtown area.     The consent decree does not include any exempted areas or
limit the protections to only homeless people downtown.
Affidavits from experts in the community show a lack of adequate housing in
this City and a lack of an adequate safety net.  Jim Schlect, outreach
worker of Care Alliance, said in his affidavit that he was concerned about
people being pushed off of the public sidewalks and disappearing.  It is
dangerous for a person with a chronic health problem to be out of more
public areas.   If an emergency happens and no one is around to call for an
emergency vehicle that individual may die under a bridge.
   The other concern is that homeless people who sleep off of the public
areas will be targeted as has happened in Toledo.  Six older homeless people
were killed over the last four months who stay under bridges.
    The Mayor had rejected a similar settlement offer by the ACLU in
December.  The American Civil Liberties Union was scheduled to begin
depositions of police and city officials 24 hours before the consent decree
was announced.  Plaintiffs expected the police to verify all of the facts
put forward by the ACLU in the lawsuit.  It was anticipated that the police
would confirm that the genesis of the policy was in City Hall, and that it
was a stretch to tie the policy to existing laws in the City Code.
     The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and the NAACP of
Cleveland brought in Rev. Al Sharpton of New York into Cleveland for a
celebration of the victory over the City of Cleveland.  On February 10, at
the Cleveland Free Stamp next to City Hall homeless people gathered to
highlight the victory in federal court, and announce that they will continue
to monitor the situation.

END FORWARD

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