April 16, 2006

Homeless Sleeping on Sidewalk Protected by Constitution

(San Francisco) Get a load of this. Obviously, a person has to be really, really smart to be a U.S. Appeals Court judge because, no matter how many times average people read the Constitution, they're not going to see what the judges find. This is from the 9th Circuit.

From SacBee.com:

The Eighth Amendment, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments," bars punishment of "involuntary sitting, lying or sleeping on public sidewalks that is an unavoidable consequence of being human and homeless without shelter in the City of Los Angeles," said a divided panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
I confess. They lost me at "involuntary sitting." And, truthfully, I have never thought about the "unavoidable consequence of being human."

The court specifically ruled that the city of Los Angeles could not roust derelicts off the streets unless the taxpayers had previously provided a cozy shelter for every conceivable vagrant that drifts in. In other words, the taxpayers must provide shelter or the homeless have the right, per the Constitution, to involuntarily sit, lie and sleep anywhere they damn well please on city sidewalks.

In conclusion, law school apparently not only teaches the law but also gives students X-ray vision. I still haven't found any reference to "homeless" in the Constitution, much less "involuntary sitting." I don't want to go to law school but I'd sure like to git some of that there X-ray vision.

From Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 09:12 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 251 words, total size 2 kb.

1 The Ninth U.S. Circus Court of Schlemeels is the most overturned court in the nation. It's just a bunch of Liberal lawyers in black robes inventing rights as they go along and pretending they saw it in the Constitution. That's what Libs do! and that's why they're constantly overturned. Stop making a mockery of the Constitution you civilization-destroying Libs!

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at April 16, 2006 09:41 PM (8e/V4)

2 I've got the USCON permanently loaded into Mobipocket for just such a situation. *beep* *tap tap* *search* Nope, nada. Maybe we should take up a collection to get the 9CCoA some copies.

Posted by: MegaTroopX at April 16, 2006 10:16 PM (yT/Rw)

3 And there are still those who can't see that we have to kill all the liberals sooner or later?

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at April 17, 2006 05:08 AM (0yYS2)

4 Wa hoo! There is still some humanity left! Even if one has to go to LA to find it! Homelessness. Just a by-product of big business favored by tax laws. Oh good! I still have a thumb left on this hand ... and one on that hand! I'm good to go!

Posted by: Last word Larry at April 17, 2006 10:00 AM (FCC6c)

5 The 9th curcut court the same bunch of idiots who says the pledge is unconstitutional what we need to do is give those idiot judges new jobs like cleaning up doggie doo with theor bare hands

Posted by: sandpiper at April 17, 2006 12:47 PM (g1M1/)

6 Constitution ... it's a sharp two-edged sword isn't it?

Posted by: Last word Larry at April 19, 2006 10:42 AM (FCC6c)

7 For those of you slamming liberals.... Now that you've critisized, I'm interested in your opinion of exactly how the US government is supposed to interpret the Constitution and apply it to everyday life efficiently. If not judges, then who should be trusted with developing legal precedent? (which is necessary because the men who designed the constitution were not gifted with ESP and could not foresee every legal situation to come.) If you're so upset about the homeless, find them a place to live and work. I don't see any solutions offered here, feel free to chime in with your great ideas of restructuring the legal system to meet your narrowly defined needs.

Posted by: Garner at April 22, 2006 01:34 PM (x7v0S)

8 looks like a very slippery slope... what about pooing and peeing? i would think those to be more involuntary human characteristics than sitting. what happens when a homeless person sues the city for being arrested for taking a wizz or dumping a load on the sidewalk? when our dogs do their business on the sidewalk, common area, street, etc... owners have to pick it up! usually, in one of those plastic baggies. i suppose that's what we'll do with the homeless as well. they can take a dump as long as they pick it up in one of those nice little plastic baggies and dispose of it properly in the nearest trash receptical. in keeping with the court's philosophy, the plastic baggie theory will have to do until the city provides more porta potties. but...what about fornication? i mean, that's pretty involuntary too. maybe not the whole fornication part, but you can't stop a guy from getting excited and when that happens he's going to need to relieve himself. so, again... do we allow these guys (and gals) the right to masterbate and/or fornicate on the sidewalks? i think that masterbation on the public sidewalk should also be cleaned up with those little plastic baggies. i suppose they can masterbate in the porta potty, too. but, you wouldn't want to fornicate in one of those. which brings me to my next question: should the city provide a proper place for the homeless to fornicate, as well? once a week, will the no-tell-motel-on-wheels park itself along the street in your neighborhood whilst the homeless run inside for a quickie? i would hope the service would provide condoms. but, in case they don't, we could always go back to the good ole plastic baggy! i think i'm going to run for mayor of l.a. and my slogan will be "plastic baggies for all!"

Posted by: kc at April 24, 2006 12:56 AM (wcYiB)

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