Criminalization of Homelessness

Date:
Author:
Eric Tars, Legal Director, National Homelessness Law Center

From vagrancy laws and the workhouses of pre-industrial England to legal segregation, sundown towns, and anti-Okie laws in the U.S., ordinances regulating the use of public space have long been used to exclude marginalized persons based on race, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, and economic class.