Feeding the homeless in Las Vegas: ILLEGAL

[Bluebear]

Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has been a vocal advocate of cracking down on the homeless in city parks, dismissed questions about how marshals, who patrol city parks, will identify the homeless in order to enforce the ordinance, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor. "Certain truths are self-evident," Goodman said. "You know who's homeless."



If someone looks like he could use a meal, be warned: Giving him a sandwich in a Las Vegas park could land you in jail. The Las Vegas City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday that bans providing food or meals to the indigent for free or a nominal fee in parks.

The measure is an attempt to stop so-called "mobile soup kitchens" from operating in parks, where residents say they attract the homeless and render the city facilities unusable by families.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada called the ordinance blatantly unconstitutional, unenforceable and the latest attempt by the city to hide and harass the homeless instead of constructively addressing their plight.

"So the only people who get to eat are those who have enough money? Those who get (government) assistance can't eat at your picnic?" asked ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein. "I've heard of some rather strange and extreme measures from other cities. I've never heard of something like this. It's mind-boggling."

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jul-20-Thu-2006/news/8589438.html

[madeline_con]

1. So, the old man with the cane is supposed to die slowly...

out of view of the "families" who want to use the "city facilities"?

All that friggin money flowing thru Vegas... shame on them! :puke:

[nealmhughes]

13. That is the same logic that public library boards use to deny access to

those who do not meet the middle class in-awe-of-knowledge-displayed clientele that they wish all who use their public facilities to manifest: "nuisance" odors and "disruptive behavior" along with "stinky patrons" are frequently used as grounds of being banned...

Now, to view it from their point of view: yes, the library is strapped for funds and we basicly have to beg the city/county for every cent we get, and there are a bunch of loud mouth cruel Young Republican types who use us as their babysitters ("storytime") and after school free afterschool care ("homework help") and don't realize that this is a PUBLIC facility...so, when they see that the library budget is on the schedule at the next city/county council meeting, we (the directors) catch the flak...

It's a sad commentary on society that people who are just trying to LIVE have to become charity pawns -- tossed back out on the street at 7am, sans clean laundry, sans a shower, sans a decent night's sleep for staying awake from the schizophrenic rants throughout the dormitory, and being made to hear a sermon for a flea-riddled mattress and some soup and sandwich.

Most of the homeless would qualify for some social services, but once one has been on the streets, it is a continual life and death struggle to find a place where one can try to clean oneself, to defecate in privacy and hold onto the few relics they have managed to salvage from a former incarnation. Ex-cons, schizophrenics released from a short stay with no halfway houses or anyone at all to check on their meds schedule, drug addicts -- probably due to the two aforementioned reasons-- trying to dull their pain and slowly commit suicide...

Now we shouldn't let a city that only exists to watch kitchy shows and lose money and buy outlandish flashy "class" allow the homeless to get a free meal from people who will throw away more than the population of Somalia will eat today?

FU Las Vegas! Should I ever find myself in that Godless city, I shall feed everyone I see.

[chill_wind]

16. So well said. Bravo! n/t

[madeline_con]

17. AWESOME! Great post. Eloquent as heck!

:applause:

[shance]

2. More Nazi's assaulting the most powerless and most vulnerable.

Who are these privileged pimps who pray on those less fortunate?

What electronic voting machines got them into office?

Along with the War on Truth, is the War on Compassion.

[Erika]

3. Mormons are in control of state government there

It's their rules or no rules.

[madeline_con]

18. Mormons rule Vegas? n/t

[Erika]

21. Yes, they do and the majority of Nevada n/t

[kurth]

25. Mormons used to own whorehouses in Utah:

"On This Day in Mormon History"

Jan 15,1897 – Apostle Brigham Young, Jr. temporarily resigns as vice-president of Brigham Young Trust Company because first counselor George Q. Cannon allows its property to become "a first class" brothel on Commercial Street (now Regent Street), Salt Lake City. Apostle Heber J. Grant is invited to its opening reception and is stunned to discover himself inside "a regular whore-house." This situation begins in 1891, and for fifty years church controlled real estate companies lease houses of prostitution.

Mar 10,1941 - First Presidency orders Clayton Investment Company to get rid of its "whore-houses," no matter the financial loss, so that church affiliated company can merge with church owned Zion's Securities Corp. Ends fifty years of church's leases to brothels.

http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon363.htm

[rucky]

4. Unenforceable is correct.

fuck the mayor. fuck the law. feed 'em anyways.

[Erika]

5. Vegas has had a big push to being sin city

They no longer want kids there, just gamblers, prostitutes, and money makers. The Mormon way.

They certainly don't want the homeless there. It would so clash with their Mormon temple.

[shance]

8. Absolutely. Boycott the Heartless towards the Homeless Infringement.

It is totally unenforceable because of its blatant assault on a civilian.

Refusing to feed someone who is in need, is a crime in and of itself.

[Fleshdancer]

6. screw that

I'll feed whomever I damn well want to feed.

On edit: Land of the free my ass.

[Selatius]

7. Their definition of "war on poverty" must mean "war on poor people"

Get real, Las Vegas.

I'm sure Jesus is real proud of you now.

[DanCa]

9. It's a plot to fill the christian missions

So that they can preach the good news to a captive audience.

[Nevernose]

10. There is ONE park rendered unsable "by families"

It's that one on Maryland Parkway. In the last 17 years of living here, I've seen precisely two groups of people using it: homeless people, and runners/athletes from the nearby extremely-exclusive private high school on long-distance runs because they don't have a venue big enough of their own.

Oscar is EXTREMELY popular (as in 88% with Republicans, and even higher with Democrats), but his stance on the homeless has been DEAD FUCKING WRONG since he came into office. I know he wants to clean up downtown, and that's even admirable, but eh way he's gone about it is the opposite of correct.

[aaronbees]

11. How un-Christian, anti-human of Vegas officials...

Feeding the poor and helping those less fortunate is a noble thing ... now criminal.

Certain truths are self-evident? Yep, Mayor "Goodman," it's evident you're heartless.

[SensibleAmerican]

23. It is Sin City you know?

n/t

[kurth]

12. It's ok to feed a pigeon, but not a person?

It's self-evident that Goodman is a world-class asshole.

[chill_wind]

15. My question exactly. "These Americans are a public nuisance

and leave untidy droppings. Don't encourage them." That's the repulsive framing being used.

We're a country succombing to complete immoral madness. We really are.

[Ignoramus]

14. Protest idea: Dress up like homeless people

then with the homeless reclining in front of city hall, people that don't look homeless feed them grapes.

[cboy4]

19. This mayor sounds like that sheriff nut in Phoenix who makes the

prisoners dress in stripes like they're playing a part in a movie.

Hey mayor, I'll feed whomever the hell I want. Bitch.

[conflictgirl]

20. That is just completely disgusting.

It's not bad enough that the number of people going hungry in this country has increased, now some government types are trying to make it illegal to feed them. x(

I want to wake up tomorrow morning and have it be 1994 again.

[SensibleAmerican]

22. This is reverse communism

The sad thing is that the mayor is a Democrat, I believe.

[NMMNG]

24. What a bunch of heartless scum

Homeless people in the parks don't make the parks "unusable by families". Just more RW falsehoods. What they really mean is "we think these homeless people make our parks look ugly, but we don't want to come up with a real solution for the problem so we'll just criminalize those who help them". :eyes:


edit for clarity