Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity (MCARE)

Pointing fingers at homeless people won't solve the affordability crisis fueling crime and despair in our cities. Misdirected anger leads to harmful, ineffective policies instead of real solutions. Here's what we can do instead: https://lnkd.in/eZMRhJgH

Last month, #Florida's governor signed H.B. 1365 to criminalize unsheltered populations with unconscionable support from the chair of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. That individual also serves as a lobbyist for the corrections industry which means they have a perverse incentive to support putting the unhoused in prison when the Trust's directive is "preventing and ending homelessness in Miami-Dade County." That is unacceptable. On April 24th, I'll be joining the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity (MCARE) and other community stakeholders to put an end to this unethical, immoral, and ineffective practice. Please see the flyer for additional details.

Recently, the Human Rights Clinic created a Factsheet on the Criminalization of Homelessness and Mental Health in the United States. The document calls out violations of fundamental human rights, including the Right to Equality, Non-Discrimination, and Freedom from Cruel Treatment. The Factsheet also includes key recommendations, emphasizing a “Housing First” approach as a crucial step towards justice and dignity for all.   You can find the Factsheet at https://lnkd.in/eYph_ugq.   Additionally, please find French and Spanish versions at https://lnkd.in/e7yiBV6G and https://lnkd.in/eUQZxuTZ, respectively.

Ever wondered why your city looks the way it does? Check out our new page that offers insight into more than 26,000 municipal zoning codes across the country.  https://lnkd.in/gX4e2qQe

Great work by David Peery at Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity (MCARE) and Tamar Ezer at University of Miami School of Law to highlight Miami Beach crackdown on homeless population as a human rights violation at the United Nations Human Rights Committee hearing together with Siya H. at National Homelessness Law Center! #HousingIsAHumanRight!

Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the U.S. government was reviewed before the esteemed 18-member United Nations Human Rights Committee for its compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This is a major body of international law that codifies (amongst other inherent rights) the right to life, right to liberty and security of person, right to be free from torture and inhuman punishment, right to freedom of expression, and right to be recognized as a person before the law. Following National Homelessness Law Center and University of Miami School of Law (Tamar Ezer, Human Rights Clinic)'s shadow report submission on the criminalization of homelessness and mental health, I joined David Peery (Executive Director, Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity (MCARE)) in Geneva to testify before the Committee about America’s cruel, degrading practices of criminalizing the poor and unhoused. Our remarks emphasized the common theme of how our elected officials are not attacking the root causes of homelessness in their policy interventions, but instead deliberately using policing and the criminal justice system to attack every societal struggle. At a separate consultation with members of the U.S. delegation, David shared his lived experiences of homelessness and raised repeated concerns about the City of Miami Beach's newly passed ordinance authorizing police to arrest homeless people who refuse temporary shelter. I spoke against the use of forced civil commitment laws that criminalize unhoused persons with mental disabilities, the assault on the right to shelter in NYC, the divestment from social services to police budgeting, and the urgent need for housing to be recognized as a human right by law. And Stephanie Sena (Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law) underscored how America doesn't have a housing supply problem, but a "prioritization of resources problem." The Committee will issue its Concluding Observations from the U.S. Review on November 3rd, compiling its main areas of concern based on civil society input and its recommendations for the U.S. government to redress human rights violations. Overall, an effective and powerful week amidst a record-breaking number of civil society advocates representing various human rights issues under the ICCPR. On behalf of the National Homelessness Law Center, I am grateful for our growing partnerships in the movement to decriminalize homelessness: especially Tamar Ezer, David Peery, Stephanie Sena, the FLORIDA ACTION COMMITTEE INC (Gail Colletta), Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (staff of Special Rapporteurs on Racism, Extreme Poverty, and Adequate Housing), and law students Abby Wettstein, Catherine Barry, and Humna R.. #HousingIsAHumanRight #HousingNotHandcuffs #ICCPR #humanrightslaw #decriminalize #homelessness #HousingFirst #poverty #unitednations