Statement of ACLU of Colorado Executive Director Nathan Woodliff-Stanley on Downtown Denver Homeless Sweeps

“The ACLU of Colorado is deeply concerned by the City of Denver’s approach to the visible presence of people who are homeless downtown, including today’s sweep and seizure of personal possessions in the areas directly adjacent to the Rescue Mission, St. Francis Center, and Samaritan House.

“Since the last sweep of the same area on a frigid, snowy December night last year, the number of people trying to exist and survive without housing in Denver has continued to grow. Denver residents are understandably discomforted and frustrated by the sight of so many poor and vulnerable people living in extreme poverty. The answer to that discomfort and frustration cannot be increased criminalization and draconian sweeps that push away and attempt to hide impoverished people out of sight. Criminalization and displacement are short-term approaches that exacerbate rather than solve root causes of poverty and homelessness.

“People who are homeless deserve the right to rest, the right to move freely in public spaces, and the fundamental right to be secure in their personal belongings, especially when those belongings are all that they have in the world.”

Resources:

Read Nathan Woodliff-Stanley’s testimony in support of the Right to Rest Act:

http://aclu-co.org/prepared-testimony-of-aclu-of-colorado-executive-director-nathan-woodliff-stanley-on-the-right-to-rest-act-2/

Read Colorado Communities are Making it a Crime to be Homeless:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-woodliffstanley-/colorado-communities-are_b_6234038.html

Visit the ACLU of Colorado Criminalization of Homelessness Campaign Page:

http://aclu-co.org/campaigns/criminalization-homelessness/