Last week Councilmember Tim Burgess proposed a new initiative to increase the safety of our city streets. While this obviously seems as if it is a no brainer, and will undoubtedly  be presented as one, the law specifically targeting panhandling will only provide the police with a tool to harass the poor, eliminate the face of visible poverty, and infringe on peoples basic right to survive.

The law as proposed would limit panhandling within 25 feet of an ATM, at intersections and highway on-ramps, after dark, and approaching people getting in or our of their car. While the cash machine and vehicle restrictions seem very reasonable there are already laws on the books that ban “aggressive panhandling.” These proposed provisions provide a “sensible approach” that seeks to draw public support for the measure. They make for tight talking points that make it seem that to oppose the law would be going against common sense.

The law will prevent many panhandlers from standing along roadways. Some may argue that eliminating panhandlers from an area is a good thing, but it needs to be understood that by banning an activity associated with extreme poverty does not eliminate the problem that made them poor in the first place. It makes those who drive the roadways feel better because they do not see evidence of poverty everyday on their way to work. This does not mean that they no longer exist.

The act of panhandling is protected under the First Amendment, but restrictions that limit time, place, and manner have been passed by many communities. All these restrictions do is criminalize actions that are associated with poverty, and in doing so limits their potential and opportunity.

These laws cannot be passed in the way they have been proposed. We will keep a close eye on the developments. In the mean time we need to set the tone of this debate. Send e-mails to Tim Burgess’s office (tim.burgess@seattle.gov) let him now what you think of the restraining order he wants to put on the poor. Write letters to the editor at the Seattle Times (opinion@seattletimes.com) who have whole heartily supported this measure multiple times. Sign up for our action alerts to stay up to date.

Real Change and SKCCH are looking for volunteers to help with our fall voter registration drive.

Volunteers will register voters at various service providers in the Seattle area. Although registration is for everyone, a new Washington state law has restored the right to vote to thousands of ex-felons who have finished serving out their time. This directly impacts many of the people with who Real Change and SKCCH work, and restores an important voice in our communities.

If you would like to volunteer we are holding a Volunteer Training Session on September 15th at 6pm.

At the training volunteers will be able to sign up for times and locations that they would like to serve.

The training will take place at Seattle University in the Piggott Building: Room 105. The room is located in the Albers School of Business on the north side of campus. Street parking is available and a light snack will be provided.

The fight for more affordable low-income housing is not new. It’s a struggle that has been going on for decades, but an aspect that seems often overlooked is the question of where people turn if there is no affordable housing available.
This is where the Stop The Sweeps campaign begins. We are here to fight for the right to exist outside, to live without being harassed by the police for the crime of being poor. Shelter space is limited, and it doesn’t provide a space where every person can feel safe; thus camping outdoors becomes the alternative.
However, we are by no means the first, or the only group to challenge laws that criminalize the poor for sleeping outside. Here are a few brief examples of other places that have challenged similar laws in their own cities:

In Eureka, California, Tracy Herrin is currently fighting in court to overturn the city’s anti-camping laws as unconstitutional.

The Oregon Law Canter is currently fighting Portland’s own camping laws in court.

In Santa Barbara, California, the ACLU is in the midst of its own court case regarding to camping laws.

The ACLU has had more luck in Laguna Beach, California, where an ACLU lawsuit brought the city to retract is camping laws before the case even made it court.

In the1962 court case Robison V. California, the US Supreme Court ruled that the “criminalization of being” constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, thus violating the eighth amendment.
If there is no affordable low-income housing, or shelter space available that allows a person to feel safe, then what alternative is there to sleeping outside? Sleep is a biological necessity, and by denying the poor the right to this, they are denying them the right to be. This is criminalizing a fundamental aspect of being homeless.
We will continue to fight to end these discriminatory practices as well as work to bring affordable housing to Seattle. Until every person has a roof over their heads where they feel safe, secure and empowered, there is work to be done.
Join us in December for our annual Camp Out on city hall to tell the city that we wont stand for anything less than housing for all and the decriminalization of being poor in Seattle.

Download and read the comments from the City of Seattle public hearing held Jan. 28th, 2008: Unauthorized Camping on City Property

1. Silja J.A. Talvi, multiple award-winning essayist, investigative journalist and author of Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System.

2. Aaron Dixon, Green Party Senate candidate in 2006, co-founder of the Seattle Black Panthers and well-known activist.

3. Larry Gossett, King County Councilmember

4. Tim Harris, Founder and Executive Director of Real Change

5. Jesse Hagopian, Seattle teacher and activist

6. Alexes Harris, part of the Clean Dreams pre-arrest diversion program.

7. Because 1 in 33 Americans is under correctional supervision.

8. Because 1 in 99 Americans is in jail.

9. Because the city wants to spend 220 million dollars on a monument to economic injustice and structural racism without having any real public discussion.

10. Because our city and our nation are at a crossroads, and the time is now.

Join Real Change and the Seattle University School of Law for an evening of education, debate and organizing. Learn about the costs of a new jail to our neighborhoods, our communities, and our schools through a panel discussion moderated by David Bloom. Hear about the better ways. And join others to find out what we can do about it. RSVP!

Wednesday, January 28th

6:30 to 8:30 PM

Seattle University

Pigott Auditorium

Nickelsville is preparing to move. Time’s up at midnight.

25 sites were reviewed for relocation. Farms, churches, vacant properties, facilities with available space on their grounds, open parcels in King County . . .

Please keep residents in your hearts and minds, along with all of the other people without homes who will live in tent cities, camp in their cars, sleep on the street or stay out of sight tonight.

“Nickelsville? That’s my home. That’s where I live.”