San Fran bans sitting, lieing, sleeping on side walks

[druid]

The fine liberal fascists of San Fran have decided that restin' your bones on the sidewalk is a criminal act. If you look homeless, your gonna be fined. Be warned. Fuck witted sons of bitches :club:

Story here: Police State: "Lefty" San Francisco Can Throw People in Jail For Sitting on a Sidewalk | Economy | AlterNet

 

[blkhwbkr]

watch out, Houston TX has a similar law. my buddy got a $180 ticket and a courtdate. when he showed up to fight it, lucky for him, the DA threw out the case and the judge called it a waste of time and he got off. unlucky for him, that was a huge fucking hassel all just for waiting for a bus with his pack.

 

[piratehobo]

damn that's some bs... anyone here read 'Down and Out In Paris and London'? he discusses something similar that takes place in london and how the homeless there all stayed on the move because they couldn't even stand in one place for more than a couplea minutes (i think that's what itwas :/ )

 

[agony]

the politicians get away with profiling once more!

 

[junkyard]

another chip at the block...


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin

 

[Uncle Mom]

oh darn it. I don't know what to do anymore. What do we do? Somebody answer me, please.

 

[Nagrom]

Ok I don't know all the facts but camping is not illegal in Cali-there is a higher court that rules over california and some surrounding states that says it is unconstitutional to deny the homeless of sleep and to target them as a group. If you get a ticket for it you can go in there with all your information about the law, the judge will go back in his little room and look it up and come out with his hands tied behind his back like a lil bitch and can't do anything to you. And after that the law will probably have to be removed from the books. So someone should do the research-I knew a guy that was gonna do it in Willits but he never got around to it, now he has a warrant *sigh*.

 

[CardBoardBox]

I was in Victoria when the cops came up on us for sitting on the sidewalk with our packs. It sucks 'cause we'd just sat down too. I'm pretty sure it's not a bylaw in that city but they harassed us anyway. A friend of mine who had snuck over the border ended up having to show the cops his ID and they figured out that he wasn't supposed to be here and deported him. Poor bugger. Havn't seen him since. It's pretty stupid in my opinion though. We don't have the freedom to sit and piss as we please. I'd rather be climbing trees than worshipping the concrete jungle any day though.

 

[Medusa]

This is so disgusting. I'm really fucking pissed off. Something needs to be done.

 

[Pheonix]

7,000 to 10,000 homeless in SF. those are numbers you can make an impact with. but how many of you actually go to court and fight it? if you don't stand up and fight for your freedom then you will never be free. the law gets away with these unconstitutional laws because no one is willing to fight the charges. I think if you just go to court and plead NOT GUILTY and request a jury trial then the DA will most likely drop the charges. going to trial is a waste of time, effort and money so the DA doesn't really want to push such a minor offense through the court system. if the DA is willing to make a big deal about this then start bitching about the constitutionality of the law and request to have your trial in a court that has the ability to decide weather or not the law is unconstitutional, it will probably be trail by judge but thats what you want the judge knows the constitution a lot better then 12 of your peers. if everyone did this then the DA or the judges will tell the cops to stop giving tickets for this offense.

I've heard (don't know for sure) that the Florida state supreme court has ruled that sleeping laws are unconstitutional because they got medical experts to testify that the body can't operate without sleep and will eventually pass out and sleep where ever the body hits the ground plus there are a lot of health dangers associated with lack of sleep.

 

[dirtyfacedan]

In Vancouver, if you sit on yer pack, they assume your are panning, and harras you. The rent-a-rats (downtown security guards) are even worse, and they call the cops, then the cops have a reason to hastle you, based on a "complaint". I follow them with a camera whenever i see them hastleing me or anyone else. Flying a sign is against city by-law in Vancouver, so i just ask for cash. These laws are just plain wrong, and part of the war on the poor, we need to all fight back!

 

[Dameon]

It's really only a matter of time until every major city has a law like this. The only city I know of where it's been successfully fought is Portland. The rich don't like to see the poor on their streets, and just figure if they make it illegal enough to be homeless, the homeless will magically disappear.

And the great part is that it's all because SF's mayor thought he saw somebody smoking crack on the Haight while he was there with his family. It was actually a guy in a wheelchair with a medical card smoking weed out of a chillum.

 

[Cardboard]

it was also overturned in LA. I think they figured it out. pushed for it so much it turned into the leaning law, which was absurd by everyones standards, not just the homeless.
SO come on SF; love this law, make them take it a step farther.... sometimes it takes a few steps to stumble and fall.

 

[Pheonix]

it's sad that the so-called hippies that hang out in the birthplace of the hippie movement won't stand up for what they believe in. I think a sit-in protest would be the best way to protest this and make sure the media gets a good picture of the cops ticketing protesters for siting. this law makes the hippies most popular form of protest illegal, ain't that in itself reason to protest.

at least some people will defend their rights On The First Day of Sit/Lie, Damp Protest – Mission Loc@l : News From San Francisco's Mission District

 

[Linda/Ziggy]

The sit lie law in SF is being fought!
There have been protests about it.
Also some of the non homeless folks are fighting it as it affect businesses,
and people just wanting to sit in front of their homes.
So yeah non homeless SF folks think it's stupid too.

In Santa Cruz they now have a $6000 dollar fine for sleeping outside...............

 

[Dameon]

It was fought all the way in SF, and still got passed. People were protesting and fighting it all last year.

 

[shittickit]

i always hated s.f. if someone asked me what city i hated most this would be the answer there is nothing good about s.f. and there is no reason to go there i hpe they pass more retarded laws there its not like youll get anythoing but a fucking ticket so who cares

 

[Darque Jesus]

Why not sit half an inch from the sidewalk with a measuring tape at hand.

 

[OFFER]

i don't want to sit down on your stupid shit anywhez san franstupid.....

 

[crustythadd23]

Fuck SF & all ther fucked up laws..shit just keeping gettin worse n worse every year up there
they just need to leave the homeless alone for once
last time i was there in 09', me & my buddy was sitting on the sidewalk & a cop walks up to us & starts givin us shit & looks at me(wish i remember what he said) but cuz how we looked he was talkin hella shit & was sayin we were on shit & better leave SF