Re:Officials put the wrong man in a mental facility for two ...
by sdunwoody on Thursday August 05, 2021 @01:01PM
(#28076444)
There's obviously room for improvement here too yes.
Although I really really doubt anyone here would be arrested for having a doze on the pavement.
Re:Officials put the wrong man in a mental facility for two ...
by rootusrootus on Thursday August 05, 2021 @01:18PM
(#28076668)
> Although I really really doubt anyone here would be arrested for having a doze on the pavement.
It seems to be declining, but according to the BBC, as of a few years ago there were more than a thousand people arrested for just that.
"The Vagrancy Act was passed in the summer of 1824, which means it is now just shy of its 200th birthday. And if it held any relevance then, it certainly doesn’t now.
At its core, The Vagrancy Act is a way to punish people “in any deserted or unoccupied building, or in the open air, or under a tent, or in any cart or waggon, not having any visible means of subsistence”. Essentially, it criminalises homelessness. For homeless people, both begging and rough sleeping are things out of their control, and the Act does little to get to the root of why people are homeless in the first place."
https://centrepoint.org.uk/about-us/blog/everything-you-need...
Also: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/12/new-home-off...