>>>>> "gg" == gemgram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
gg> The laws against sleeping outside are aimed only at the
gg> homeless who have no where else to sleep. When was the last
gg> time a "Homed" someone was arrested for sleeping while sitting
gg> on a park bench? When was the last time a "homed" someone was
gg> arrested for sleeping while laying on a blanket by Lake
gg> Calhoun or Lake of the Isles?
[...snip...]
gg> Those who allow laws against being poor or who do nothing
gg> about such conditions sort of come to mind when contemplating
gg> that law. The only time some people are not hypocrites is in
gg> their sleep. I try to remember this when I see a politician
gg> who is awake.
Actually, couldn't there be unintended consequences to making it legal
to sleep outdoors? If it's illegal to sleep outdoors, you can pick up
someone when it's 20 below, and take them somewhere to sleep. If it's
ok, what do you do? Just let them freeze to death? Or is there
something in the law that would allow you to remove people on the
grounds that they pose a risk to themselves (the same way you can
sometimes temporarily imprison someone who is psychotic)?
[...snip...]
gg> I actually have been told by more than one public official
gg> that the reason we don't use the buildings is that it would
gg> cost too much to bring them up to code to allow someone too
gg> sleep there.
Actually, there are lots of things like this. Under most
circumstances, you can't just give unused prepared food to the
homeless. Sounds heartless, but what happens the first time someone
gets some hideous disease from eating food off someone else's plate?
Likewise, what happens if you let people sleep in any old
not-up-to-code building, and they get killed when a floor collapses?
I think your outrage is getting you carried away here. Sometimes
things are less crazy than they seem...
--
Robert P. Goldman
ECCO
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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