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29 09, 2022

Ninth Circuit Upholds & Clarifies Homeless Persons’ Right to Survive in Absence of Housing

2025-03-05T12:37:10-05:00

Ninth Circuit Upholds & Clarifies Homeless Persons’ Right to Survive in Absence of Housing Court Reiterates Martin v. Boise Holding that Civil and Criminal Punishments for Homelessness are Cruel & Unusual FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 29, 2022 Media Contact: Erika Lopez (202)638-2535 x110 | elopez@homelesslaw.org (September 29, 2022, Washington, DC) – On September 28, people experiencing homelessness in Grants Pass, Oregon—and across the Ninth Circuit—could breathe a sigh of relief as their right to survive in the absence of adequate housing was reaffirmed. The U.S. Ninth [...]

Ninth Circuit Upholds & Clarifies Homeless Persons’ Right to Survive in Absence of Housing2025-03-05T12:37:10-05:00
1 09, 2022

Criminalization of Homelessness is Racially Discriminatory

2025-03-05T12:36:57-05:00

Criminalization of Homelessness is Racially Discriminatory, Must be Abolished, Say UN Human Rights Experts Also Calls for “All Necessary Measures to Eliminate Segregation” FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2022 Media Contact: Erika Lopez (202)638-2535 x110 | elopez@homelesslaw.org GENEVA, SWITZERLAND- The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva yesterday stated “it remains concerned at the increasing number of state and local laws that criminalize homelessness and at the disproportionately high number of persons belonging to racial and ethnic minorities affected by homelessness,” and called [...]

Criminalization of Homelessness is Racially Discriminatory2025-03-05T12:36:57-05:00
24 06, 2022

National Homelessness Law Center Condemns Supreme Court Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson

2022-06-29T10:43:51-04:00

National Homelessness Law Center Condemns Supreme Court Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization as Violation of Human Right to Health Care and Harmful to Persons Experiencing Homelessness June 24, 2022 The National Homelessness Law Center stands for universal human rights for all people, including the human rights to health care and to housing. A necessary component of this human rights work is to protect the legal rights and lives of persons seeking services derived from either of these rights. Today, the US Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in [...]

National Homelessness Law Center Condemns Supreme Court Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson2022-06-29T10:43:51-04:00
16 03, 2022

Updated State Index Report on Youth Homelessness Released

2023-03-13T10:01:04-04:00

Updated State Index Report on Youth Homelessness Released Report to Provide State Rankings and Areas for Improvement for Further Decriminalization of Homelessness FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 10, 2022 Media Contact: Erika Lopez (202)638-2535 x110 | elopez@homelesslaw.org (March 10, 2022, Washington, DC) – The National Homelessness Law Center (Law Center) and True Colors United are excited to announce the release of the 2021 State Index on Youth Homelessness. The report was last released in 2021, this year’s updated information continues to follow state efforts to end youth [...]

Updated State Index Report on Youth Homelessness Released2023-03-13T10:01:04-04:00
10 03, 2022

Criminalization of Homelessness Case Summaries 2022

2022-03-10T17:51:49-05:00

LITIGATION MANUAL SUPPLEMENT: Criminalization of Homelessness Case Summaries 2022 DOWNLOAD PDF Summary Despite a lack of affordable housing and shelter space, governments have chosen to threaten, arrest, and ticket homeless persons for performing life-sustaining activities – such as sleeping or sitting down - in outdoor public space. In addition to an increasing number of laws that civilly and criminally punish homelessness, governments also regularly displace people experiencing homelessness from public space – a practice commonly called “sweeps” – and seize their personal property. We refer to these punitive policies collectively as the criminalization of homelessness. [...]

Criminalization of Homelessness Case Summaries 20222022-03-10T17:51:49-05:00
20 01, 2022

Racial Injustice in Housing and Homelessness in the United States

2022-01-20T16:27:13-05:00

Racial Injustice in Housing and Homelessness in the United States Racial Injustice in Housing and Homelessness in the United States: List of Themes Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) For the United States Review This document was submitted to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to support the Committee in developing its list of themes for the upcoming review of the U.S., highlighting racial discrimination in homelessness and housing. DOWNLOAD PDF

Racial Injustice in Housing and Homelessness in the United States2022-01-20T16:27:13-05:00
17 12, 2021

Testimony of Eric Tars to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the Situation of the Right to Housing in the U.S., Dec. 16, 2021

2022-01-20T16:27:26-05:00

Testimony of Eric Tars, Legal Director National Homelessness Law Center Inter-American Commission on Human Rights December 16, 2021 Introduction Thanks to the Commissioners for granting this hearing and the U.S. Government for joining us. I am Eric Tars, the Legal Director at the National Homelessness Law Center (formerly the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty), which has advocated for more than three decades against the criminalization of homelessness and for housing as a human right. Unfortunately, the right to adequate housing is in crisis in the U.S. Even before the pandemic, the federal government was only meeting [...]

Testimony of Eric Tars to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the Situation of the Right to Housing in the U.S., Dec. 16, 20212022-01-20T16:27:26-05:00
11 04, 2019

Alone Without a Home 2019

2021-12-17T06:18:07-05:00

Alone Without a Home 2019 This report provides a state-by-state review of laws in 13 key issue areas that affect the lives of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. Topics include status offenses, emancipation statutes, health care access, consent and confidentiality statutes, and juvenile justice system statutes. It also offers an overview of the range of approaches taken by jurisdictions and the relative prevalence of these approaches and includes detailed indexes where advocates can find the relevant laws in their state or jurisdiction. Importantly, the report also provides recommendations for policy changes in each of the 13 [...]

Alone Without a Home 20192021-12-17T06:18:07-05:00
1 04, 2019

Homeless Persons Cannot Be Punished for Sleeping in Absence of Alternatives, 9th Circuit Decision Establishes

2022-06-29T10:45:46-04:00

Homeless Persons Cannot Be Punished for Sleeping in Absence of Alternatives, 9th Circuit Decision Establishes NLCHP Contact: Cassidy Waskowicz Acting Director of Development & Communications cwaskowicz@homelesslaw.org 202-638-2535 ext 105 (April 1, 2019, Boise, Idaho) – Tonight, people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the west coast states of the Ninth Circuit can sleep more safely, without facing criminal punishment for simply trying to survive on the streets. Today, the Ninth  Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an en banc petition by the city of Boise in Martin v. Boise (formerly Bell v. Boise), leaving in place its September 2018 ruling that homeless [...]

Homeless Persons Cannot Be Punished for Sleeping in Absence of Alternatives, 9th Circuit Decision Establishes2022-06-29T10:45:46-04:00
14 03, 2019

LA Homeless Services Authority Adopts Progressive Policy for Unsheltered Homelessness

2019-03-14T14:13:24-04:00

Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Adopts New Guiding Principles and Practices for Unsheltered Homelessness NLCHP Contact: Cassidy Waskowicz  Acting Director of Development & Communications cwaskowicz@homelesslaw.org 202-638-2535 ext 105 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 7, 2019, Los Angeles, CA) – On February 28, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) adopted new policy that calls for decriminalizing life-sustaining survival actions of the more than 40,000 Los Angelenos who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The policy, entitled Guiding Principles and Practices for Local Responses to Unsheltered Homelessness, outlines principles that affirm the civil rights of those experiencing homelessness. This guidance cites the Encampment Principles [...]

LA Homeless Services Authority Adopts Progressive Policy for Unsheltered Homelessness2019-03-14T14:13:24-04:00
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