Writing Their Way p.4
Addict’s Almanac p.12
Check out the Streetvibes blog @ streetvibes. wordpress.com
STREETVIBES
$1
S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 • I s s u e 1 4 6 • C i n c i n n a t i ’s A l t e r n a t i v e N e w s S o u r c e
A Sweeping Change
No Place to Lay Their Heads
Police and homeless advocates work together By Andrew Freeze Staff Writer
F
ive years after the Cincinnati Police, the mayor, the Ohio Department of Transportation and Downtown Cincinnati Inc. developed a plan to remove homeless camps from underneath downtown bridges, both police and advocates for the homeless say the plan is working – and helping homeless people. At issue was the right of people to sleep in public places, as well as a city ordinance requiring registration of panhandlers. A lawsuit filed by Don Henry, a homeless For more man sleepbackground on the bridge ing under sweeps, check out a bridge cincihomeless.org in 2003, and look under helped to “In the News” change police policy for sweeping homeless camps and eliminated the registration of panhandlers.
Survey counts homeless outdoors
In the five years since, relations between the police and homeless advocates have im-
By Gregory Flannery Editor
“Police contact me when they run into someone needing services downtown. They try not to arrest or ticket them, and allow me and other outreach workers to help them.” - Chico
A
Lockhart, outreach worker
proved. “Before the sweeps took place, police officers would find a camp and decide to clear it out,” says Sgt. Steve Saunders, neighborhood liaison for District One. “They would bring in a crew from the jail to clean out the encampments under bridges so there was less blight and people would not crash their cars while looking at the homeless encampments.”
Don Henry speaks to reporters during the bridge sweeps in the summer of 2003. As a result of his lawsuit, police policies changed and the city’s panhandling registration was dropped. Photo by Jimmy Heath.
In December 2003, in response to Henry’s lawsuit, police changed the policy to “allow 72 hours notice of trespass prior to arrest and removal of personal possessions from a homeless encampment, provided the homeless person
properly identifies himself (or herself), is not violating any other laws, and exigent circumstances do not exist.” “This policy also led to better communication between social service agencies and
See SWEEPS p.6
The Best Justice You Can Afford By Gregory Flannery Editor
T
hese are signs that don’t inspire confidence in an attorney: You have to empty your pockets when you get to her office. She doesn’t have a room for a private conversation. She doesn’t have her own computer. She doesn’t have enough filing cabinets. She plans to spend less than two hours on your case, including the trial. That’s what the Hamilton County Public Defender’s Office is like, according to a study by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA). The report, Taking Gideon’s Pulse: An Assessment of the Right to Counsel in Hamilton County, Ohio,
Blistering report on public defender ’s office concludes that poor people facing jail are systematically denied the constitutional right to effective legal counsel. “There is little doubt that poor people charged with crimes facing a potential loss of liberty are not afforded the constitutional protections demanded by the United States Constitution,” the report says. “However, NLADA finds that the majority of the responsibility for this failure lies with the state of Ohio and not with Hamilton County.” If that conclusion – poor people get screwed -- isn’t so surprising, some of the details are.
That welcome feeling The problems start the moment a client walks in the door. The public defender’s office is in the same building downtown as the county prosecutor’s office. “Defendants, defense attorneys, prosecutors, victims, and witnesses should not be confined together in the small spaces of entry ways and elevators, and public defender clients should not pass through metal detectors manned by law enforcement to meet with their attorneys,” the report says. Conditions in the office itself are inadequate, NLADA
man sitting at Seventh and Broadway at 5:45 a.m. says he isn’t homeless. He doesn’t want to answer questions from a social worker. “I draw a good income,” he says. “I ain’t homeless. I don’t want to sign no papers.” Brad Roberts, an outreach worker with Projects, Assistance and Transitions from Homelessness (PATH) says he has no papers that need signing, just a few questions for a survey. “I draw a good income,” the man says. Then he asks for change. Roberts gives him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead. “I ain’t trying to be rude,” the man says. “I draw a good income. It’s a long story why I’m homeless.” The quarterly homeless survey by social-service agencies is a kind of downtown scavenger hunt – that is, a hunt for people reduced to scaveng-
“It’s hard to get a good night’s sleep. The cops heckle them all night. The business people come in the morning and heckle them. I try to respect their space.” - Brad Roberts,
found. “The physical layout of the Hamilton County Public Defender’s Office is totally unsuitable for the work that needs to be done on behalf of clients,” the report says. “Public-defender misdemeanor staff sits in cubicles within a single large room. The office layout does not allow for confidential conversation with a client or witness or prosecutor. This forces many attorneys to speak with clients in the courtroom instead of in advance of a court date.” The issue isn’t esthetic – it’s a matter of justice denied,
ing for a place to sleep outdoors. Participants spread out at 4 a.m. Aug. 27, visiting the banks of the Ohio River, parking garages, benches and other places for people who have no
See DEFENDER p.7
See COUNT p.6
outreach worker