History: Homeless Bill of Rights
Why We Need a Homeless Bill of Rights
The everyday existence of people experiencing homelessness is fraught with difficulty – it is an anxiety producing and degrading existence. While the experience of being without a home is difficult enough as it is, society has taken few steps to reduce the experiential burdens of homelessness; in many ways, we have increased these burdens. People experiencing homelessness regularly report being harassed in pubic by law enforcement and security personnel – sometimes stemming from an interpretation of local law being broken, but often from a differential application of the law. For example, a homeless man sitting on a bench or a standing on a street corner is more likely to be told to “move along” than his housed counterpart. But this differential treatment doesn’t end with the use of public space – it extends in many directions, including discrimination around employment, voting rights, mistreatment when receiving services, and more. Across the board, our society has created a social stigma associated with homelessness, to the point that “the homeless” or “homeless people” generally conjures up a very distinct and specific image. A Homeless Bill of Rights seeks to address these civil and human rights issues by guaranteeing the rights of people without homes by protecting them from discrimination based on “housing status.”
Homeless Bill of Rights: Nationwide Scope
Conceptually, a “Homeless Bill of Rights” has been legislatively in existence since 2005, when the Illinois state legislature introduced and worked on passing a Homeless Bill of Rights. While this first legislative effort ultimately failed, it succeeded at spelling out for the first time the need to legally prevent discrimination based on “housing status.”
Prior to the 2005 Illinois legislation, the question of homeless civil rights had been under consideration for at least 15 years. At the center of the discussion has been a hotly debated argument around whether or not the realities of homelessness lead to any reduction in rights, and whether this is ok or whether there is a constitutional mandate to address these inequalities. For example, questions around the essence of personal property, privacy, and voting rights have necessarily grown out of the existence of homelessness – which presents an alternate world from that originally envisioned by the drafters of the Constitution. How do we view privacy if one is living outdoors? How do we view personal property if it exists in a public space? Is the existence of homelessness in itself a constitutional violation of equal protection? And if not, then at the very least should we advance the notion that homelessness structurally challenges the accessibility of our most fundamental rights, necessitating a structural response to ameliorate these effects? The answer is yes, especially given the lack of available resources targeting an end to homelessness. For if someone has no choice but to live outdoors or in shelter, this status should not negatively impact the protections that we are all guaranteed as Citizens under our Constitution.
After the failed attempt to pass an Illinois Homeless Bill of Rights, the idea lay dormant for 6 years until a group in Rhode Island picked it up. Basing their bill on the language of the original Illinois bill, the Rhode Island Homeless Bill of Rights was introduced in 2012. Championed by homeless advocate John Joyce (who had previously experienced homelessness for 3 years) and his Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, the RI Homeless Bill of Rights was successfully passed in its first session and signed into law in the summer of 2012, becoming the first piece of state law in the country to protect people from discrimination based on their housing status.
Currently, a homeless bill of rights is being worked on in a number of states, including: California, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, and Delaware.
Prior to the 2005 Illinois legislation, the question of homeless civil rights had been under consideration for at least 15 years. At the center of the discussion has been a hotly debated argument around whether or not the realities of homelessness lead to any reduction in rights, and whether this is ok or whether there is a constitutional mandate to address these inequalities. For example, questions around the essence of personal property, privacy, and voting rights have necessarily grown out of the existence of homelessness – which presents an alternate world from that originally envisioned by the drafters of the Constitution. How do we view privacy if one is living outdoors? How do we view personal property if it exists in a public space? Is the existence of homelessness in itself a constitutional violation of equal protection? And if not, then at the very least should we advance the notion that homelessness structurally challenges the accessibility of our most fundamental rights, necessitating a structural response to ameliorate these effects? The answer is yes, especially given the lack of available resources targeting an end to homelessness. For if someone has no choice but to live outdoors or in shelter, this status should not negatively impact the protections that we are all guaranteed as Citizens under our Constitution.
After the failed attempt to pass an Illinois Homeless Bill of Rights, the idea lay dormant for 6 years until a group in Rhode Island picked it up. Basing their bill on the language of the original Illinois bill, the Rhode Island Homeless Bill of Rights was introduced in 2012. Championed by homeless advocate John Joyce (who had previously experienced homelessness for 3 years) and his Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, the RI Homeless Bill of Rights was successfully passed in its first session and signed into law in the summer of 2012, becoming the first piece of state law in the country to protect people from discrimination based on their housing status.
Currently, a homeless bill of rights is being worked on in a number of states, including: California, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, and Delaware.
Connecticut Homeless Bill of Rights
The work towards creating a CT Homeless Bill of Rights began at the end of 2012 and was championed by Hartford resident, Aldene Burton.