With help of new laws, Aloha State says hello to tourists, goodbye to some among homeless population
A homeless man and his dog on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. Theodore Trimmer / Shutterstock.com
With a cost of living that is one of the highest in the country, Hawaii has a limited supply of affordable housing.
But, due in part to its warm weather, the Aloha state also has a substantial homeless population, comprising more than 7,600 individuals among some 1.4 million residents, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That has put Hawaii front and center in a national debate over the extent to which government can and should impose criminal penalties on conduct that is associated with not having a place to stay, the New York Times (reg. req.) reports in a lengthy article.
Under a new law that took effect near the end of 2014, Honolulu, seeking to make the city more attractive to tourists, is one of a growing number of jurisdictions that make it illegal to sit or lie on a public sidewalk, among other measures intended to encourage the homeless to go elsewhere. At least one advocacy group for the homeless in the city— Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association—arranges for airline tickets for those who wish to fly to another state, according to the newspaper.
Also sparking disagreement is a city and county nuisance ordinance under which property deemed to have been abandoned by homeless individuals has been seized and discarded. In response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, a federal court last year ordered (PDF) that seized property be impounded so it could be reclaimed.
“We are very concerned about laws that criminalize the status of indigency,” the group’s legal director, Daniel Gluck, told the Times. “We have seen some very aggressive laws here.” An ACLU news release provides more details.
Hawaii is far from the only state in which such approaches have been taken against a growing homeless population, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced last year that it intended to steer homeless assistance funds away from such jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, faced with the day-to-day need to live and trying to avoid tickets and fines, a number of homeless individuals in Honolulu have become expert in the intricacies of applicable law, learning which sidewalks are covered by the sit-lie ordinance and which are not, as well as when the beaches open in the morning, permitting a several-hour nap before the temperature gets too hot, the Times reports.
“We had to go from the state side of the street to the city property,” Brian Bowser, 36, homeless since 1995, told the newspaper. “We just do our best.”
Although one advocacy group says hundreds of homeless individuals have left the streets in Honolulu in the last few years because of its efforts another questions whether the problem has simply been shifted elsewhere.
“You see tents going up everywhere,” said executive director Victor Geminiani of Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice. “It’s just a matter of Whac-a-Mole.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “After Ore. Judge Nixes Law Against Sidewalk-Sitting, Cops Try New Tactics”
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.): “Cities watch as Portland allows homeless to sleep on sidewalks and camp in public spaces”
See also:
ABA Journal: “Cities get mired in civil rights disputes in trying to deal with growing homeless populations”
ABAJournal.com: “Judge stays enforcement of city ordinance making it a crime to feed the homeless”
ABAJournal.com: “Man Is Jailed for Charging Cellphone In Park Picnic Area of City That Offers Free Charges for E-Cars”
