The Crime of Being Poor in a Recession

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-08-10 18:20:00 UTC
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Public camping is outlawed in parts of Seattle. Panhandling is prohibited in St. Petersburg. Orlando has mass-feeding restrictions. And countless other cities selectively enforce loitering, jaywalking, or open containers laws only to those who appear to be homeless.

But has this criminalization of the homeless worsened with the sour economy? 

According to Barbara Ehrenreich, the answer is yes. In an excellent NY Times op-ed piece this week, Ehrenreich provides example after heart-wrenching example of how the poorest among us are punished for being poor, be it through the prison-like conditions of public housing (complete with additional police surveillance), the uptick of "zero tolerance" policing, or the selective enforcement of laws targeting those who must sleep in public places.

But has this bullying of the poorest among us really become a source of - wait for it - revenue for cities hit hard by the recession? 

The pattern is to curtail financing for services that might help the poor while ramping up law enforcement: starve school and public transportation budgets, then make truancy illegal. Shut down public housing, then make it a crime to be homeless. Be sure to harass street vendors when there are few other opportunities for employment. The experience of the poor, and especially poor minorities, comes to resemble that of a rat in a cage scrambling to avoid erratically administered electric shocks. (Read the rest of the NY Times piece here.)

While I agree with Ehrenreich that that poor people (minorities, especially) are unfairly and disproportionately subjected to the "criminalization of crimes that are not a threat to public safety," I find it tough to believe that a few dozen $20 fines will pull struggling municipalities through the recession.

Still, her points are taken. In times like these, we should be going to great lengths to promote stability for the poorest of the poor, to keep them on their feet, rather than making life more difficult. In the long run, we simply can't afford not to.

 

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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