Homeless Bill of Rights *(CO, CA, OR)*

[Kaine]

Happened to find this and thought, "Oh wow, this looks like some useful information for fellow vagabonds, I should share this."

Don't see a post that links to all 3 states respective Bills on here, so I'll post it for easy access. Seems it could be quite handy for keeping the pigs in the sty and off your metaphoric doorstep.

Colorado Homeless Bill of Rights/ Right to Rest Act: https://coloradohomelessbillofrights.org/colorado-right-to-rest-act/

California Homeless Bill of Rights/ Right to Rest Act: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/15-16/bill/sen/sb_0601-0650/sb_608_bill_20150227_introduced.html

Oregon Homeless Bill of Rights/ Right to Rest Act: https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2215/Introduced


Now, This says it is as introduced, and I just found this like 5 minutes ago, so I'd like to know if anyone on here has referred to these rights when being harrassed by cops in these states and how that went over for them. Seems like it really creates incentive for the cops to not want to fuck with us; the $1000 or so dollars that could come to us if they break any of these rights comes out of the district that caused us the problem in the first place, and no capitalist society dwellers wants a drop in pay, right?

Edit** - looks like Colorado is a no go for now - https://coloradohomelessbillofrights.org/news/
May end up catching out sooner than later

 

[TheWindAndRain]

This is desperately needed. I was busted once in Colorado for "accepting food" with a sign that was asking for food. Had to spend a couple nights in jail, then when I got out they refused to give my sleeping bag back that day, so I had to sleep out in cardboard with none of my stuff. Their strategy is just to be brutal and ruthless to the homeless in hope of chasing them all to places where they are treated like humans.

 

[Odin]

Thanks for posting, this is exactly what we need nationwide...
I got harassed last summer by a dumb pig just for sitting in a "pavilion" having a sixer beer in a mostly empty forest preserve. It was a can and not glass...the signs say no glass.

I knew he was targeting that area because folks will sleep on the picnic tables over night in good weather.

 

[TheWindAndRain]

Thanks for posting, this is exactly what we need nationwide...
I got harassed last summer by a dumb pig just for sitting in a "pavilion" having a sixer beer in a mostly empty forest preserve. It was a can and not glass...the signs say no glass.

I knew he was targeting that area because folks will sleep on the picnic tables over night in good weather.

Odin sounds like they need to put some dreaded pigeon spikes on those picnic tables to punish those greedy homeless who want to rest there

 

[Dameon]

Do yourself a favor, and do not ever bring these up to a cop if they're harassing you. You're almost guaranteed to make your situation worse. A friendly cop might react well to these, but an unfriendly cop will just get angry that you're "playing lawyer". This is just feel-good legislation, it makes the people putting it in place feel like they're doing something for homeless people, but in actuality, good luck successfully getting your $1000. It's your word against their lies, and guess who the judge is going to listen to.

 

[Odin]

Odin sounds like they need to put some dreaded pigeon spikes on those picnic tables to punish those greedy homeless who want to rest there

Naw that pavilion makes money for the village when "normalfolk" rent it out on nice summer weekends. It's just homeless freeloaders of nature they want to keep away.

No trees and grass for you!

It's your word against their lies, and guess who the judge is going to listen to.

I have yet to do this but I have thought to have some official looking business card that I can flash at a cop and say I got a "good" lawyer on retainer.

Already a good idea to have witnesses and multiple cameras recording.

 

[Dameon]

I have yet to do this but I have thought to have some official looking business card that I can flash at a cop and say I got a "good" lawyer on retainer.

Already a good idea to have witnesses and multiple cameras recording.

Works if they believe you, but they probably won't if they're harassing you for being homeless, homeless people don't have lawyers on retainer. If they don't believe you, they might be extra angry that you tried that. You might have better luck telling them you have a lawyer in the family, but you're still risking increased aggression if they don't believe you. I had limited success telling cops I had a friend in the ACLU once, but there was clear skepticism, and that was just when they wanted my ID so the stakes were low (they got my ID, BTW).

Witnesses and cameras are good, if you can arrange them, but I've rarely had that work out well. If the cop feels intimidated by the setup (and actually cares, many cops don't because they have practical immunity), he can always come back for a later visit when you're alone.

 

[Jerrell]

Thanks for those! I'll be traveling through all three states (even if CO wants to be dicks about it) this year, so this thread will come in handy I'm sure!

As far as dealing with cops, here's my experience with it.
Those "gotcha" approaches never work. I've had more success with playing a sorta psychology or salesman style approach. Limited, but more. For example, if you know the name of a church in the next town, ask if they go there and then concoct a story around it about how you thought they looked familiar (either they look like someone that goes there or if they do actually go there, you visited there a couple times and liked it). Just don't come across as being fake. If you start to feel like they're onto your con, shift the conversation. But yeah, I've been able to talk my way out of some tickets or get them lowered to a lesser offense a time or six by using the military angle. I always ask the cop if they served in the military, because they look like a Marine I saw around base a lot when I was in Iraq. That gives me a couple levels of prestige (3 statuses all humans strive for and tend to respect: power, wealth, and prestige) as a veteran that served in a combat zone right off the bat. Just don't try the veteran angle if you aren't one. 1-stolen valor and 2-if the cop is a veteran, they're going to sniff that shit out and, well, stolen valor.

 

[starfarer]

Thanks for those! I'll be traveling through all three states (even if CO wants to be dicks about it) this year, so this thread will come in handy I'm sure!

As far as dealing with cops, here's my experience with it.
Those "gotcha" approaches never work. I've had more success with playing a sorta psychology or salesman style approach. Limited, but more. For example, if you know the name of a church in the next town, ask if they go there and then concoct a story around it about how you thought they looked familiar (either they look like someone that goes there or if they do actually go there, you visited there a couple times and liked it). Just don't come across as being fake. If you start to feel like they're onto your con, shift the conversation. But yeah, I've been able to talk my way out of some tickets or get them lowered to a lesser offense a time or six by using the military angle. I always ask the cop if they served in the military, because they look like a Marine I saw around base a lot when I was in Iraq. That gives me a couple levels of prestige (3 statuses all humans strive for and tend to respect: power, wealth, and prestige) as a veteran that served in a combat zone right off the bat. Just don't try the veteran angle if you aren't one. 1-stolen valor and 2-if the cop is a veteran, they're going to sniff that shit out and, well, stolen valor.

OH MAN!!! i once did the millitary thing, not only did they want to bust me for fraud (Quite serious here) but they also wanted to leave me at a returned soldiers club so they could"talk to me "

 

[beersalt]

Yeah, this shit is like arguing the constitution. (Pointless)
Paperwork doesn’t fucking matter, ESSPECIALLY when you’re a houseless individual. The stakes are against you.
Paperwork means nothing, and money/power mean everything in the judicial system.

Pigs win, not you.

 

[CaptainCassius]

Yeah, this shit is like arguing the constitution. (Pointless)
Paperwork doesn’t fucking matter, ESSPECIALLY when you’re a houseless individual. The stakes are against you.
Paperwork means nothing, and money/power mean everything in the judicial system.

Pigs win, not you.

It depends, though mostly the absolute power a police officer has in that holster on his belt lets them pretty much do whatever they want. I've argued politely before about playing music on the (public) sidewalk as being defended by my right to assemble and free speech, and that because my case had no sign in it nor was I actually soliciting anyone; any money that people put in there was an expression of their own freedom of speech. I was left alone after that.

 

[Hobo Mud]

Works if they believe you, but they probably won't if they're harassing you for being homeless, homeless people don't have lawyers on retainer. If they don't believe you, they might be extra angry that you tried that. You might have better luck telling them you have a lawyer in the family, but you're still risking increased aggression if they don't believe you. I had limited success telling cops I had a friend in the ACLU once, but there was clear skepticism, and that was just when they wanted my ID so the stakes were low (they got my ID, BTW).

Witnesses and cameras are good, if you can arrange them, but I've rarely had that work out well. If the cop feels intimidated by the setup (and actually cares, many cops don't because they have practical immunity), he can always come back for a later visit when you're alone.

This is certainly good sound advice and your correct in my opinion with your statements. I know theses bills or so called rights sound good on paper however one being able to enforce them is a different matter.

It is becoming a crime to be poor in this country and all though I always try to have a postive outlook on life this is one situation that I do not see becoming better. With each year that passes laws are becoming more stricter pertaining to what the homless may or may not do.

 

[Kaine]

Taking in to consideration all of these points brought by you fine folks here, it seems like it's time for a revolution. I guess what we're doing is part of it huh? To bring about freedom it takes doing what you want as you want to, so as long as we keep doing what we're doing and keeping ourselves hidden or at least inconspicuous we will get to keep doing it. The nail that stands out the most gets hammered first type thing?

 

[Deleted member 14481]

There's a lot of pessimism to go around in this threat. It's not that y'all don't have a point, but important that that protections for homeless people exist. In the event something does happen, there are legal protections to refer to, and maybe you'll have the rarity of the harassing cops getting punished for it. Not every place has a local society that will throw homeless people under the bus, and some of those places don't have a homeless bill of rights (as you can guess, because only 3 states do). It would take something extreme to drink any kind of attention, and the day-to-day harassment and abuse is a problem, but I say we take what we can get and actually... oh I donno... FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS TO BE HUMAN BEINGS! Sounds like a good idea, to me!​