Posted on 12/23/2008 10:43:45 PM PST by Libloather
ACLU Sues Laguna Beach for Giving Homeless the Boot
Posted by Daffodil J. Altan
December 23, 2008 11:40 AM
The ACLU filed a federal civil rights lawsuit today against the city of Laguna Beach for its "unlawful and inhumane policy of harassing and intimidating disabled homeless people." The suit alleges that the city's prolonged arrests of its small, disabled homeless population under the guise of an anti-sleeping ordinance is "blatantly unconstitutional" and criminalizes an otherwise helpless disabled population. Erwin Chemerinsky, chair of UC Irvine's law school, is acting as co-counsel.
According to the ACLU, the city has had plenty of time to enact recommendations the city council adopted early this year to manage the homeless situation, but has failed to provide any services. "Tragically, city leaders of Laguna have rejected these recommendations of their task force in favor of harassing, intimidating and prowling Laguna's beaches and parks to arrest and threaten the city's mentally ill and physically disabled homeless people for slepping where they have no other place to sleep," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the southern California branch of the ACLU.
The ACLU is suing on behalf of several of the 45 to 75 chronically homeless and disabled people who nightly risk being arrested if they're seen sleeping under the boardwalk, on a park bench or any other public space. City officials in Laguna Beach are planning their own press conference later today.
It would be lovely if everyone could live with his or her own family, but many of these peoples' problems are severe enough to be beyond the capabilities of an untrained caregiver. These people need to be institutionalized for their own safety.
Liberals will wail and gnash their teeth over any form of institutionalization for the mentally handicapped, but like it or not, it's far kinder to have these people sleeping on clean sheets in a 20 bed ward than huddled in a cardboard box in an alley.
Maybe Erwin could just take them hme and put them up on his dime?
Really. Let them sleep in his front lawn and pee on his bushes.
What you said!
I would bet the disability = crackhead....
Maybe all of these ACLU types could pony up some cash and all of these hobos could live on some beach front property. Nah! They’re great at telling other people, primarily taxpayers, what to do with their money but when it comes to their own, well, back off.
If the democrats hadn’t decided to shut down the facilities the mentally handicapped were living in, these poor people wouldn’t be out on the streets.Your 100% right but the dems shifted the funds to support the ilegals so much for the democrats mind set spend money on what feels good and gets votes and don’t worry about the mentally ill.
I thought Erwin C. joined the Duke law faculty. Whassamattah, not left enough for him?
Bingo!
If these ACLUseless @sshats would spend the money on a facility instead of suing the city, I'll bet all the chronically homeless could be taken care of. The catch is, the residents would have to live by rules in order to maintain the facility.
No liberal in the world wants to be constrained by rules. They believe that, if you force a patient to bathe daily, you’re infringing on his dignity.
These people are worse of in those gulags than on the streets. California's gulags for the handicapped are notorious for abuse and neglect. That's why Ben Franklin was right when he said that those who sacrifice liberty for safety lose both.
Also what do you think is going to happen when the Democrats decide that anyone who doesn't agree with them is mentally handicapped?
It is funny how when the DEMs get in to the White House, the Homeless must disappear. then when BUSH and other Republicans are elected, the DEMs dig up the homeless and let them loose for effect.
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