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But Houston's tidy-uppers aren't waiting for a world-class event to rationalize going after homeless down-and-outers. They've preemptively outlawed the "crime" of dumpster diving in the Texan city.
"I was just basically looking for something to eat," he told the Houston Chronicle. But, unbeknownst to both this indigent tourist and the great majority of Houston's generally generous citizens, an ordinance dating way back to 1942 says that "molesting garbage containers" is illegal. In March, James Kelly, a 44-year-old Navy veteran, was passing through Houston on his way to connect with family in California. Homeless, destitute, and hungry, he chose to check out the dining delicacies in a trash bin near City Hall. Spotted by police, Kelly was promptly charged with "disturbing the contents of a garbage can in the [central] business district." Seriously.
Also, in 2012, city officials made it a crime for any group to hand out food to the needy in the downtown area without first getting a permit. It's a cold use of legal authority to chase the homeless away to...well, anywhere else.
Such laws are part of an effort throughout the country to criminalize what some call "homeless behavior." And, sure enough, when hungry, the behavioral tendency of a homeless human is to seek a bite of nourishment, often in such dining spots as dumpsters. The homeless behavior that Houston has outlawed, then, is eating.
The good news is that when Houstonians learned of Kelly's situation, many reached out to help him get through his hard times. Now they need to reach out to local politicos and get the city to stop cracking down on this abuse of homeless people.
About the author
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the new book, Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow."(Wiley, March 2008) He publishes the monthly Hightower Lowdown, co-edited by Phillip Frazer.
Homelessness is a "problem" completely manufactured by this society. How can there be foreclosure leading to empty houses and run down properties all over the cities of this diabolical nation and at the same time homeless people? I think there should be some kind of law against the creation of homeless people. I mean if there are to be laws at all they should be motivated by compassion and understanding, written to help the people maintain peaceable and prosperous lives.
Just goes to show you that the "laws" are only there to create criminals. Protect the wealthy and prevent the common man from understanding or having any recourse in the "judicial" system.