3 Charged with Feeding Homeless

[TheHuckster]

Link

There's a lot of flimsy arguments that support the law, but the one I especially can't wrap my head around is that feeding the homeless somehow perpetuates and encourages homelessness... er, wha? You mean people choose to be homeless just to get free meals? I don't get it.

[telecom_goddess]

Unbelievable.

[gremcint]

Honestly after the whole homeless spikes thing nothing surprises me anymore because basically rather than fix the problem they just take the approach of: fuck em and let em die.

[Gravekeeper]

"The people feeding them are enablers, and they enable the homeless by making their lives easier," Deal told the New Times of Broward County. "Hunger is a big motivator. Are people more likely to seek help when they're hungry or when they're fed and happy?"

Ron Book, chairman of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, told city lawmakers at the raucous, Oct. 21 meeting at which the new laws were passed that they would have a positive effect. "Feeding people on the streets is sanctioning homelessness," Book said. "Whatever discourages feeding people on the streets is a positive thing."

"Supporters of the strict laws say that allowing programs like Abbott’s encourages homelessness."

I can't tell if these people are just amazingly fucking stupid or legitimately evil.

[Greenday]

God damn criminals! What were they thinking?

Shame on those politicians.

[Panacea]

Link

There's a lot of flimsy arguments that support the law, but the one I especially can't wrap my head around is that feeding the homeless somehow perpetuates and encourages homelessness... er, wha? You mean people choose to be homeless just to get free meals? I don't get it.

The point of the law is to encourage the homeless to leave town. Which, of course they won't.

These kinds of laws usually get struck down and one of the guys charged has successfully sued the city on a similar previous law and gotten it tossed out. This law won't last.

It's counter productive as well. Taking away a source of food just feeds panhandling and crime.

[Greenday]

The point of the law is to encourage the homeless to leave town. Which, of course they won't.

Basically they aren't trying to reduce poverty, just shift it to somewhere else so they don't have to look at it.

[Canarr]

This is just appalling.

Love this "gem" especially:

The city's new budget includes $25,000 to buy one-way bus tickets for homeless people who want to reunite with their families in other parts of the country.

[Greenday]

This is just appalling.

Love this "gem" especially:

The city's new budget includes $25,000 to buy one-way bus tickets for homeless people who want to reunite with their families in other parts of the country.

What's so bad about giving homeless people with no money the opportunity to reunite with their family that they can't afford to get to?

[NecCat]

What's so bad about giving homeless people with no money the opportunity to reunite with their family that they can't afford to get to?

Basically they aren't trying to reduce poverty, just shift it to somewhere else so they don't have to look at it.

You answered your own question. Homeless people can be arrested for a variety of things - vagrancy, trespassing, sleeping on public property, 'littering' (keeping there belongings on the ground). These arrests usually don't result in jail time (where there would at least be the opportunity to shower and get something to eat), they just result in fines. Unpaid fines result in criminal records that are hard to shake, ensuring the likelihood of continued homelessness. When they are arrested they are told if they would like to leave the area to be 'reunited with family' the city won't bother with the charges, or if they want to stay the charges will be filed and completed.

Homeless people are then sent to areas where they don't know the area, where to be, how to survive. They are usually told of better shelters, assistance programs etc 'over there' wherever it is that they are being sent, regardless of what reality has to say.

Not only is it a mere shifting of the problem, when it happens the individual is in increased danger until they are familiar with their new surroundings.

[lordlundar]

You know, just when I though Florida wasn't bat-shit ins- Oh who am I kidding, I haven't thought that ever.

[Rageaholic]

I can't tell if these people are just amazingly fucking stupid or legitimately evil.

I vote for both stupid and evil. (probably more on the stupid side though).

[Canarr]

What's so bad about giving homeless people with no money the opportunity to reunite with their family that they can't afford to get to?

What NecCat says. Besides, with all these other regulations Fort Lauderdale is passing, do we really believe this idea was born out of altruistic motives?

Another thing that makes me go "WTF?": the law against handing out food was passed in a nighttime council session between 2 and 3 am. What, exactly, is so urgent about this matter that it requires a special session at such an ungodly hour?

[Panacea]

What's so bad about giving homeless people with no money the opportunity to reunite with their family that they can't afford to get to?

Because it doesn't work. I've lived in communities that have done this.

They come back eventually. It doesn't have to make sense. It just is. Often, many of the homeless move with the seasons; they head south in the winter and north in the summer.

Plus, these people are homeless for a reason. Giving them money to reunite with family members in other parts of the country presumes that the families actually want them back. Some of these folks have seriously burned their bridges due to mental illness, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and so on.

This plan by the city is nothing more than a colossal waste of money.

[Gilhelmi]

Worst part, by command of our Lord God and Savior, we must help to feed the hungry. So all they are doing is imprisoning people for following their religious beliefs.

I know in some Islamic cultures, it is a sin to let a person go hungry.

All this law does is make it harder to help the homeless and persecute people of faith (Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and a few more).