End the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban: January 2008

Friday, January 11, 2008

We ask for the right not to sleep anywhere or everywhere , but somewhere.

Legalize Sleep
Civil rights attorney David Beauvais down in Santa Cruz rounding up plaintiffs for a lawsuit against the City and city police, talks about Santa Cruz's harsh and unique "Sleeping Ban" law. MC 6.36.010 makes the act of falling asleep on all public property and much private property a $97 crime for 1300-1500 shelterless people each night.

If you have a ticket under the following codes,
you may be able to enjoin in a lawsuit against the City to end the Sleeping Ban.
We ask for the right to sleep NOT anywhere and everywhere , but somewhere.

The Camping Ban (MC 6.36.010a) activists aptly named the Sleeping Ban makes it illegal for the simple act of sleeping -- at night. The name must fit as now even our mayor is using the term. (Watch the Sleeping Ban Debate)

In Santa Cruz, the most flagrant and demoralizing example of the criminalization of poverty is this ordinance, known as the "Camping Ban," MC 6.36.010. Section (a) prohibits the act of sleeping between 11 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. anywhere outdoors or in a vehicle on both public and private property within the city limits. Activists call this the "Sleeping Ban." We are dedicated to ending this ban and finding real solutions, such as "Safe Sleeping Zones" for vehicles and campers. This is cheaper, easier to police and is a way of dealing with the issue in a legal dignified manor.

Organizations are banding together and the plaintiff list is growing. As you can see by the date of the post, the blog is just starting but will be a focal point for information, status, and ways you can help. Sleep is a human right and a basic necessity. Please help us in restoring that right.

For more information on this draconian law see the following articles on Indybay.org

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/12/22/18468518.php (Sleeping Ban Debate Commentary)

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/12/22/18468436.php ( Mayor lashes out & Stonewalls on Public Meetings; Lethal SCPD Harassment Surges)

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/12/17/18467575.php ( Street Spirit Editor Denounces Mayor Coonerty As "Repulsive")

http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2007/12/24/brb_sb.wma (Audio) Highlights of debate with commentary played on Free Radio Santa Cruz with Robert Norse) This is an hour long but saved in FM quality so the file size is only 5.5 megs. Very worth while if you want to know the truth behind what our mayor stated during the debate.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/08/26/18443532.php ( Activists ask ACLU to help end sleeping ban )

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/08/16/18441138.php ( Open Letter to City Council regarding Sleeping Ban)

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/08/16/18440985.php ( Ongoing Protest Against the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban)

You can additionally search Google for Sleeping Ban.

Our Objective

For three decades Santa Cruz authorities have used The Nighttime Sleeping Ban to selectively harass and drive away homeless people. The ordinance MC 6.36.010a is a law against sleeping on any public property, or in a vehicle and most private property between the hours of 11PM to 8:30 AM. In a town with emergency walk-in shelter for less than 60-160 people and an estimated homeless population of 1500-2000, this law is unconscionable, unconstitutional and immoral. The Blanket Ban makes it illegal to cover up with blankets or bedding outside during the same nighttime hours.

After the Jones decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the subsequent Jones Settlement, nighttime camping bans in Los Angeles, Fresno, Richmond and San Diego were eliminated. Activists in Santa Cruz took heart and began preparing for a legal challenge here.

We hope to challenge not only the Santa Cruz's infamous Sleeping Ban , criminalizing the very act of sleeping at night, but also any and all police practices that abusively and selectively target homeless people for necessary survival behavior such as sleeping. Given the city-acknowledged shelter emergency, the city has done little to resolve in spite of its "progressive" pretensions.

Attorneys from Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Washington, D.C. are putting together the pleadings. Attorneys from San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento are helping.

The City Attorney and Mayor Ryan Coonerty has resisted any and all efforts to reform the Sleeping Ban so that it conforms with the 9th Circuit decision. We are fund-raising and gathering plaintiffs to take the course directly to federal court
and expect to have an action filed in February.

Howard Zinn Speaks out on the Sleeping Ban

"I think we should interrupt
the sleep of people who pass
such laws."
*Howard Zinn 10/25/97*

Speaking in response to the
Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban
at an event sponsored by the
Resource Center for Nonviolence.
_______________________________________________________
Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty
Reaffirms Sleeping Ban
In November 2007, Coonerty
reaffirmed his support for the
Santa Cruz outdoor nighttime
sleeping ban in spite of
a California Supreme Court
decision declaring similar local
California laws unconstitutional.
^[2]^[3]
This law was challenged most
visibly by a homeless camp out
on the lawns of City Hall in
August 2007.
Then Vice-Mayor Coonerty refused to
meet with homeless advocates.
_______________________________________________________
The death of Robert Wagner
A Lonely Death on the Doorstep 
of City Hall
 ______________________________________________________

End the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban

Friday, January 11, 2008

We ask for the right not to sleep anywhere or everywhere , but somewhere.

Clip Cast

The Cost of War

Our Objective

Howard Zinn Speaks out on the Sleeping Ban

List of supporting orgnizations

Links

Watch the 2007 Sleeping Ban Debate, 1 hour in length.

Listen to Sleeping Ban Debate Highlights with commentary 5.6 megs.

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