STOP SAN DIEGO HOMELESS CRIMINALIZATION
STOP SAN DIEGO HOMELESS CRIMINALIZATION
The Issue
PUNISH ME FOR SOMETHING WITHIN MY CONTROL
NOT FOR SOMETHING BEYOND MY CONTROL
-C4TWC
Homelessness is vastly undercounted citywide, with estimates of the true value ranging from 50% to 100% higher than reported.[1]
Nationwide, the approximation is between 2.5 and 10.2 times greater, according to a study done in 2001.[2]
The results of this crisis have been seen in the rapidly expanding tent encampments in downtown San Diego that have more than doubled in size.
Per homeless individual, it costs between $30,000 and $150,000 a year (dependent on geographical location) to provide services and keep this vulnerable population homeless.
Homelessness is not just a crisis, but also has been noted as an epidemic, and is a $781.7 billion a year[3] industry. This means every taxpayer in the United States pays approximately $5018.96 per year toward maintaining homelessness. [4]
Even Amazon, who since the early 2000s has quietly received more than $1.5 billion in government subsidies, has joined in, building a homeless shelter within its’ Seattle headquarters which is aimed at sheltering 275 people at night.[5]
Even homeless students are suspected to be undercounted. San Diego schools reported 20,600 students considered homeless throughout the 2017-2018 school year but is thought to be much higher. A California State audit of school districts revealed more than 25% reported having no homeless students, hard to believe when viewed in comparison with the state’s homeless crisis.[6]
Given that evidence shows homelessness is perhaps half the amount greater than reported in San Diego, then is it safe to presume that living on the streets in San Diego poses greater risk to homeless individuals’ health and safety.
The Regional Task Force on Homelessness found that the homeless population in the City of San Diego included 817 people living in vehicles.[7]
Most homeless have no shelter available to them other than in their vehicles.
RV owners without physical addresses have no legal place to park their RVs at night. The few “safe lots” established in San Diego only serve a small portion of people with vehicles who are homeless, prioritize families with small children, and exclude RVs.
A January 2018 homeless count found 1,262 individuals lived in their vehicles, though the true number is likely higher as this did not include those who stayed in RVs.[8]
RV parks in San Diego charge high rents. Monthly rentals in RV parks in the City of San Diego range from a low of $699 per month to a high of $1950 per month depending on the park and the time of year, which is unaffordable to most to all San Diego homeless.
For most, being homeless is not a choice. There is insufficient number of temporary shelter beds available in the City as compared to the unsheltered homeless population forced to seek shelter on the streets, in parks, or in their vehicles. There are hundreds more unsheltered homeless people forced to seek shelter in their vehicles than available emergency shelter beds, even when accounting for seasonal and overflow spaces.
Most homeless do not have any reasonably accessible and affordable places in the City to seek housing and shelter. They are forced by the City to live on the streets deprived of security, peace, dignity, and happiness.
San Diego Homeless, live in constant fear of being ticketed, fined, arrested for illegal lodging and/or habitation in a vehicle on the streets, or have their property impounded, stolen and/or confiscated.
They sleep with little comfort at night in fear of the City harassing and ticketing them or some other harm befalling them from being forced to cruelly live on the streets without shelter, housing, adequate access to restroom facilities, or warmth, all at risk to their health, safety and well-being.
"In Martin v. City of Boise, the Ninth Circuit held that states and municipalities impose cruel and unusual punishment when they criminalize people experiencing homelessness for sleeping, lying, or sitting down in public places when they have nowhere else to go. Martin v. City of Boise, 920 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2019).
City Ordinances Punish Homeless Individuals Who are Homeless on the Streets
State law considers a person guilty of Disorderly Conduct, a misdemeanor, if the person “lodges in any building, structure, vehicle, or place, whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possession or in control of it.” Cal. Penal Code § 647(e).
Violation of the statute carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine. The language of the statute makes clear that the City has the authority to grant permission to persons lodging in vehicles to stay on public property and therefore such arrests or threats of arrest are purely discretionary.
San Diego Muni Code § 54.0105(a) states it is unlawful for individuals to place, or allow to remain, any goods, wares, baggage, personal property or merchandise on any sidewalk or curb, between the outer edge of the sidewalk/curb and the property line.
Municipal code § 54.0110 states “It is unlawful for any person to erect, place, allow to remain, construct, establish, plant, or maintain any vegetation or object (e.g. ‘tents’) on any public street, alley, sidewalk, highway, or other public property or public right-of-way, except as otherwise provided by this Code. (emphasis added)”
In Code § 63.0102(b)(12), it is noted that overnight camping, lodging, sleeping, and tarrying in public parks and beaches is unlawful, unless in attendance of a function with prior permission of the City Manager.
The City’s “Prohibition of Use of Streets for Storage, Service or Sale of Vehicles or For Habitation” ordinance, San Diego Muni. Code § 86.0137(f), provides: “It is unlawful for any person to use a vehicle while it is parked or standing on any streets as either temporary or permanent living quarters, abode, or place of habitation.” The terms “temporary or permanent living quarters, abode, or place of habitation” are not defined. A ticket for vehicle habitation is punishable as an infraction by a fine of $40 plus a $12.50 surcharge and doubles if not paid in 21 days.
SDMC Section 86.23(h), 81.09(a)(1), & CVC Section 22669(d) states that It is unlawful to store, park, or leave standing any inoperable vehicle on public property. A vehicle will be considered unlawfully stored if it is inoperable and left standing four hours or more. Vehicles are considered inoperable if they lack an engine or transmission or wheels or tires or any other parts or equipment necessary to safely operate upon a highway.
SDMC Section 86.23(g), 81.09(a)(1), & CVC 22651(k) states that it is unlawful to leave a vehicle standing or park any vehicle for more than 72 consecutive hours without being driven at least 1/10 of a mile. VEHICLES IN VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION WILL BE CITED AND/OR TOWED WITHOUT FURTHER WARNING.
The City have had, and continue to have, a policy and practice of utilizing these ordinances to issue, and/or threaten to issue, tickets to the homeless and homeless vehicle owners, including individuals with disabilities. They impose exorbitant penalties, arrest, and/or and to impound these individuals’ and families’ vehicles for failure to pay the penalties.
California Civil Code § 52.1, also known as the “Bane Act,” provides a cause of action to individuals whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the United States and/or California Constitutions and other laws has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, by another’s threat, intimidation, or coercion.
The City by their conduct and actions have interfered with, have attempted to interfere with, and continue to attempt to interfere with, by threat, intimidation, and/or coercion, including enforcing policies and/or practices against the homeless in San Diego for conduct beyond their control as a result of the City failing to provide any viable and reasonable accommodations.
There is no lawful justification for the City of San Diego to target the homeless, (whether sleeping on the sidewalks, in their vehicles, or in the RV's or trailers) with threats, intimidation or coercion for violating or complying to city ordinances when the City has provided no other alternative to them not to be homeless on the streets and interfere with their exercise of their constitutional and statutory rights while forced to live on the streets, merely to make the conditions for them so daunting and cruel in San Diego, punishing and to possibly force them to move out of town.
Actions that were and continue to be taken willfully and with malice and oppression in order to deter and/or prevent them from exercising their protected constitutional and statutory rights while forced to live on the streets.
For the above reasons, we petition to enjoin the City from enforcing the following Codes:
1) San Diego Muni Code § 54.0105(a),
2) San Diego Muni. Code § 54.0110,
3) San Diego Muni. Code § 63.0102(b)(12),
4) San Diego Muni. Code § 86.0137(f),
5) SDMC Section 86.23(h),
6) SDMC 81.09(a)(1),
7) CVC Section 22669(d),
8) Cal. Penal Code § 647(e).
Footnotes:
[1] Warth, Gary. “San Diego Vastly Undercounts Homeless, Study Says - The San Diego Union-Tribune.” News. San Diego Union-Tribune, August 13, 2017. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/homelessness/sd-me-homeless-count-20170809-story.html
[2] National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. “Don’t Count on It- How the HUD Point-In-Time Count Underestimates the Homeless Crisis in America,” 2017. https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HUD-PIT-report2017.pdf
[3] This value was reached by multiplying the 2019 PIT count of homeless individuals and families (567,715) by 10.2 (the highest percent of the range estimated to determine the annual homeless population count by the NLCHP) to reach 5.79 million. This, then, was multiplied by 1.5, since it is estimated that the annual PIT counts are off by as much as 50%, yielding 8.686 million people per year. Multiplying this value by $90,000 (average cost per year per homeless individual) yielded approximately $781.7 billion.
[4] Value reached by taking approximate annual cost spent on homelessness ($781.7 billion, see footnote 27 above on method of deriving this figure) and dividing it by the number of individuals filing tax returns in 2019 (155,610,000 per statistics from the IRS (see https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-december-27-2019 yielding a value of $5018.96 per taxpayer per year towards homeless services.
[5] Bendix, Aria. “Amazon Is Building a Homeless Shelter inside Its Seattle Headquarters — Here’s a Look Inside.” Business Insider, November 8, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-headquarters-homeless-shelter-seattle-2019-11
[6] Staahl, Derek. “Audit: Homeless Students Likely Undercounted.” KGTV, November 9, 2019. https://www.10news.com/news/homeless-students-in-san-diego-county-likely-undercounted-audit-finds
[7] 2017 We All Count Results, supra at 16.
[8] Holder, Sarah. “The People Who Live in Their Cars.” CityLab. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/02/homeless-safe-parking-lots-sleeping-in-cars-city-programs/581128/
108
The Issue
PUNISH ME FOR SOMETHING WITHIN MY CONTROL
NOT FOR SOMETHING BEYOND MY CONTROL
-C4TWC
Homelessness is vastly undercounted citywide, with estimates of the true value ranging from 50% to 100% higher than reported.[1]
Nationwide, the approximation is between 2.5 and 10.2 times greater, according to a study done in 2001.[2]
The results of this crisis have been seen in the rapidly expanding tent encampments in downtown San Diego that have more than doubled in size.
Per homeless individual, it costs between $30,000 and $150,000 a year (dependent on geographical location) to provide services and keep this vulnerable population homeless.
Homelessness is not just a crisis, but also has been noted as an epidemic, and is a $781.7 billion a year[3] industry. This means every taxpayer in the United States pays approximately $5018.96 per year toward maintaining homelessness. [4]
Even Amazon, who since the early 2000s has quietly received more than $1.5 billion in government subsidies, has joined in, building a homeless shelter within its’ Seattle headquarters which is aimed at sheltering 275 people at night.[5]
Even homeless students are suspected to be undercounted. San Diego schools reported 20,600 students considered homeless throughout the 2017-2018 school year but is thought to be much higher. A California State audit of school districts revealed more than 25% reported having no homeless students, hard to believe when viewed in comparison with the state’s homeless crisis.[6]
Given that evidence shows homelessness is perhaps half the amount greater than reported in San Diego, then is it safe to presume that living on the streets in San Diego poses greater risk to homeless individuals’ health and safety.
The Regional Task Force on Homelessness found that the homeless population in the City of San Diego included 817 people living in vehicles.[7]
Most homeless have no shelter available to them other than in their vehicles.
RV owners without physical addresses have no legal place to park their RVs at night. The few “safe lots” established in San Diego only serve a small portion of people with vehicles who are homeless, prioritize families with small children, and exclude RVs.
A January 2018 homeless count found 1,262 individuals lived in their vehicles, though the true number is likely higher as this did not include those who stayed in RVs.[8]
RV parks in San Diego charge high rents. Monthly rentals in RV parks in the City of San Diego range from a low of $699 per month to a high of $1950 per month depending on the park and the time of year, which is unaffordable to most to all San Diego homeless.
For most, being homeless is not a choice. There is insufficient number of temporary shelter beds available in the City as compared to the unsheltered homeless population forced to seek shelter on the streets, in parks, or in their vehicles. There are hundreds more unsheltered homeless people forced to seek shelter in their vehicles than available emergency shelter beds, even when accounting for seasonal and overflow spaces.
Most homeless do not have any reasonably accessible and affordable places in the City to seek housing and shelter. They are forced by the City to live on the streets deprived of security, peace, dignity, and happiness.
San Diego Homeless, live in constant fear of being ticketed, fined, arrested for illegal lodging and/or habitation in a vehicle on the streets, or have their property impounded, stolen and/or confiscated.
They sleep with little comfort at night in fear of the City harassing and ticketing them or some other harm befalling them from being forced to cruelly live on the streets without shelter, housing, adequate access to restroom facilities, or warmth, all at risk to their health, safety and well-being.
"In Martin v. City of Boise, the Ninth Circuit held that states and municipalities impose cruel and unusual punishment when they criminalize people experiencing homelessness for sleeping, lying, or sitting down in public places when they have nowhere else to go. Martin v. City of Boise, 920 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2019).
City Ordinances Punish Homeless Individuals Who are Homeless on the Streets
State law considers a person guilty of Disorderly Conduct, a misdemeanor, if the person “lodges in any building, structure, vehicle, or place, whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possession or in control of it.” Cal. Penal Code § 647(e).
Violation of the statute carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine. The language of the statute makes clear that the City has the authority to grant permission to persons lodging in vehicles to stay on public property and therefore such arrests or threats of arrest are purely discretionary.
San Diego Muni Code § 54.0105(a) states it is unlawful for individuals to place, or allow to remain, any goods, wares, baggage, personal property or merchandise on any sidewalk or curb, between the outer edge of the sidewalk/curb and the property line.
Municipal code § 54.0110 states “It is unlawful for any person to erect, place, allow to remain, construct, establish, plant, or maintain any vegetation or object (e.g. ‘tents’) on any public street, alley, sidewalk, highway, or other public property or public right-of-way, except as otherwise provided by this Code. (emphasis added)”
In Code § 63.0102(b)(12), it is noted that overnight camping, lodging, sleeping, and tarrying in public parks and beaches is unlawful, unless in attendance of a function with prior permission of the City Manager.
The City’s “Prohibition of Use of Streets for Storage, Service or Sale of Vehicles or For Habitation” ordinance, San Diego Muni. Code § 86.0137(f), provides: “It is unlawful for any person to use a vehicle while it is parked or standing on any streets as either temporary or permanent living quarters, abode, or place of habitation.” The terms “temporary or permanent living quarters, abode, or place of habitation” are not defined. A ticket for vehicle habitation is punishable as an infraction by a fine of $40 plus a $12.50 surcharge and doubles if not paid in 21 days.
SDMC Section 86.23(h), 81.09(a)(1), & CVC Section 22669(d) states that It is unlawful to store, park, or leave standing any inoperable vehicle on public property. A vehicle will be considered unlawfully stored if it is inoperable and left standing four hours or more. Vehicles are considered inoperable if they lack an engine or transmission or wheels or tires or any other parts or equipment necessary to safely operate upon a highway.
SDMC Section 86.23(g), 81.09(a)(1), & CVC 22651(k) states that it is unlawful to leave a vehicle standing or park any vehicle for more than 72 consecutive hours without being driven at least 1/10 of a mile. VEHICLES IN VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION WILL BE CITED AND/OR TOWED WITHOUT FURTHER WARNING.
The City have had, and continue to have, a policy and practice of utilizing these ordinances to issue, and/or threaten to issue, tickets to the homeless and homeless vehicle owners, including individuals with disabilities. They impose exorbitant penalties, arrest, and/or and to impound these individuals’ and families’ vehicles for failure to pay the penalties.
California Civil Code § 52.1, also known as the “Bane Act,” provides a cause of action to individuals whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the United States and/or California Constitutions and other laws has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, by another’s threat, intimidation, or coercion.
The City by their conduct and actions have interfered with, have attempted to interfere with, and continue to attempt to interfere with, by threat, intimidation, and/or coercion, including enforcing policies and/or practices against the homeless in San Diego for conduct beyond their control as a result of the City failing to provide any viable and reasonable accommodations.
There is no lawful justification for the City of San Diego to target the homeless, (whether sleeping on the sidewalks, in their vehicles, or in the RV's or trailers) with threats, intimidation or coercion for violating or complying to city ordinances when the City has provided no other alternative to them not to be homeless on the streets and interfere with their exercise of their constitutional and statutory rights while forced to live on the streets, merely to make the conditions for them so daunting and cruel in San Diego, punishing and to possibly force them to move out of town.
Actions that were and continue to be taken willfully and with malice and oppression in order to deter and/or prevent them from exercising their protected constitutional and statutory rights while forced to live on the streets.
For the above reasons, we petition to enjoin the City from enforcing the following Codes:
1) San Diego Muni Code § 54.0105(a),
2) San Diego Muni. Code § 54.0110,
3) San Diego Muni. Code § 63.0102(b)(12),
4) San Diego Muni. Code § 86.0137(f),
5) SDMC Section 86.23(h),
6) SDMC 81.09(a)(1),
7) CVC Section 22669(d),
8) Cal. Penal Code § 647(e).
Footnotes:
[1] Warth, Gary. “San Diego Vastly Undercounts Homeless, Study Says - The San Diego Union-Tribune.” News. San Diego Union-Tribune, August 13, 2017. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/homelessness/sd-me-homeless-count-20170809-story.html
[2] National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. “Don’t Count on It- How the HUD Point-In-Time Count Underestimates the Homeless Crisis in America,” 2017. https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HUD-PIT-report2017.pdf
[3] This value was reached by multiplying the 2019 PIT count of homeless individuals and families (567,715) by 10.2 (the highest percent of the range estimated to determine the annual homeless population count by the NLCHP) to reach 5.79 million. This, then, was multiplied by 1.5, since it is estimated that the annual PIT counts are off by as much as 50%, yielding 8.686 million people per year. Multiplying this value by $90,000 (average cost per year per homeless individual) yielded approximately $781.7 billion.
[4] Value reached by taking approximate annual cost spent on homelessness ($781.7 billion, see footnote 27 above on method of deriving this figure) and dividing it by the number of individuals filing tax returns in 2019 (155,610,000 per statistics from the IRS (see https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-december-27-2019 yielding a value of $5018.96 per taxpayer per year towards homeless services.
[5] Bendix, Aria. “Amazon Is Building a Homeless Shelter inside Its Seattle Headquarters — Here’s a Look Inside.” Business Insider, November 8, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-headquarters-homeless-shelter-seattle-2019-11
[6] Staahl, Derek. “Audit: Homeless Students Likely Undercounted.” KGTV, November 9, 2019. https://www.10news.com/news/homeless-students-in-san-diego-county-likely-undercounted-audit-finds
[7] 2017 We All Count Results, supra at 16.
[8] Holder, Sarah. “The People Who Live in Their Cars.” CityLab. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/02/homeless-safe-parking-lots-sleeping-in-cars-city-programs/581128/
108
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Petition created on March 12, 2022