Tribune on Sweeps, 2015

To the Portland Tribune,

Why does the Tribune write about this program as if it were based on some kind of evidence-based justice administration best practices? Nothing could be further from the truth. The whole package is a concoction of arbitrary or status enforcement of penalties proven by research to be both counter productive in outcome and more expensive in cost. These programs are based on the research-disproven authoritarian fantasy that "these people" just aren't pulling hard enough on their own bootstraps and can be harshed and punished into solvency, sobriety and shelter. It's beyond untrue --- it is both ethically and practically wrong in multiple meaningful dimensions.

I don't know who the constituent "suits" are for this program, but they need to be named and shamed. The elected officials who are carrying their water in allowing this to go on need to stand up publicly on it, too.

Yes, other cities have been using these programs that criminalize homelessness. There are lots of stupid unethical authoritarian ideas floating around and harsh authoritarian regimes ready to implement them. They are still stupid and unethical. I'm going to cite some specifics on the smart people who've researched and denounced this approach to the homeless problem.  But before I do, I want to state this in plain, unmistakable language:

These programs produce outcomes worse than doing nothing, and cost more than programs that work. There are cities which use ethical, practical programs which work and cost less. Salt Lake City is one of them. Is Portland dumber than Salt Lake City? On homeless issues, as long as we continue using these unethical, unconstitutional, counter-productive practices which criminalize homelessness, we certainly are.

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP) has just released a national research and policy report on these issues titled "NO SAFE PLACE: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities". The full PDF of the report can be found here: "http://nlchp.org/documents/No_Safe_Place".  Portland is part of the problem this report addresses.

Based on their findings, the NLCHP is now asking the Justice Department to penalize cities, such as Portland, who continue to practice these expensive, counter-productive, unethical programs with sanctions such as withholding grant funds.

Portland is supposed to be a place where respect for human and civil rights for all citizens is exemplary. Portland is supposed to be a place where best-in-class, evidence-based, economically managed programs are taken for granted.

Tribune, Portland has nationally recognized smart people on the homeless issue. Go interview them the way people from other cities come here to interview them. Quit pretending there is any shred of dignity, intelligence or justice in criminalizing homelessness and then selectively enforcing on it. There is not.