Hate Crimes Against Homeless People

Ohio Identified as the Third Most Dangerous State for Homeless People

Over the past eleven years (1999-2009), advocates and shelter workers around the country have received news reports of homeless men, women and even children being harassed, kicked, set on fire, beaten to death, and decapitated. A new report released by the National Coalition for the Homeless documents a rise in hate crimes against homeless people. In Ohio, the number of hate crimes directed towards the homeless population rose to 13 in 2009 making Ohio the third most dangerous state in the union. Currently, the federal government does not recognize the homeless population as a protected group, vulnerable to hate crimes. The report, Hate Crimes Against the Homeless: America’s Growing Tide of Violence, documents all the attacks (just under 120) with 43 incidents resulting in death in 2009.

The FBI classifies a hate crime as “A criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias.” In 2008, there were seven hate crimes in the United States against protected classes that lead to death according to FBI statistics while there were 27 hate crimes against homeless people that lead to deaths according to the NCH research.

The hate crimes report was released in August 2010, and classifies the most dangerous states for hate crimes against the homeless as those with fifteen or more acts of violence carried out against the homeless population in a year. In 2009, Ohio officials reported a serial killer targeting vulnerable homeless women and a number of attacks on campsites in Cincinnati. Ohio was identified as the third most dangerous state in the United States, and fourth most dangerous state in the last 11 years.

Perhaps the most widely publicized case in Ohio was that of Anthony Sowell, the alleged serial rapist and killer. According to police and prosecutors, Sowell targeted homeless women in the Cleveland area, and is currently waiting trial on these charges. Sowell is innocent until proven guilty, but police investigations allege that he would lure these women to his home with the promise of drugs or shelter. By the time Sowell was discovered, he had allegedly killed 11 homeless women, six victims in 2009 alone, and their bodies were found inside and around property in which Sowell was living. After his arrest, two survivors came forward stating they had been raped by Sowell.

Homeless persons often live a transient lifestyle, with inconsistent contact with family or friends, making the population an appealing target for criminals to exploit. It is known that many of the victims’ in this case where not reported missing for long periods of time; also, many victims are unwilling to report hate crimes to the police.

While cases like Sowell’s receive a great deal of media attention, many of the violent attacks of the homeless receive minimal exposure. In the past ten years, hate crimes against the homeless have occurred in ten of Ohio’s cities. Those attacks consisted of 43 non lethal attacks and 17 fatal attacks.

In 2009, Cincinnati police reported that two separate hate crimes were committed against two homeless gentlemen. One man was physically and verbally assaulted for being homeless. When police questioned the attacker, he responded with indifference saying, “He was just a bum, who cares?” The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless cited this incident as a clear example of a hate crime. “The use of ‘bum’ clearly denotes a sense of inferiority,” said Josh Springs, executive director of the Cincinnati Coalition.

The second hate crime in Cincinnati in 2009 was even more violent. A homeless man, George Smock, was walking in front of the County Court House when four teenagers tried to kill him. Smock was doused in lighter fluid and set on fire by the teens. He neither knew, nor provoked his attackers. Onlookers extinguished the flames and saved Smock from severe injury or death. Although his attackers tried to take his life, Smock did not file a report immediately following the attack. When asked why, Smock replied, “I didn’t fill out a police report that night, which I should have done, but I’ve got to live out here.”

Interestingly, negative portrayals of the homeless receive a great deal of media attention and only stand to make the public more apathetic to the population. Movies like “Bumfights” can easily be viewed on You Tube. The “bum” is commonly used in film and television. The word “bum” degrades the population and implies that their struggles stem from laziness, not a complex web of societal barriers and holes in the social safety net. In addition, there is a correlation between the number of municipal laws directed at homeless people and the number of hate crimes directed at those experiencing homelessness.

Nationally, states are beginning to recognize the need for homeless people to be added as a protected class because of their vulnerability and fragility. The Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act of 2009 is pending federal legislation currently before Congress. It was announced last week that there will be a Congressional Hearing in the US Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the rise in hate crimes on September 29. This act would make the homeless population a protected group and raise the penalty for those attacking homeless individuals. This Act is sponsored by Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Ohio. The City of Cleveland passed an ordinance in 2008, making repercussions for “intimidation” and harassment more severe if these crimes are perpetrated against an individual because of his/her homeless status. The Ohio legislature has re-introduced a bill (HB 509) to classify intimidation as an offense against homeless people in order to provide some additional protections.

The NCH report has extensive references of all the crimes that are documented across the nation against those experiencing homelessness. NCH has prepared a list of recommendations for states and local advocates of what they can do to protect homeless people from future attacks. Finally, the NCH Hate Crimes report provides model legislation for states and municipal governments to adopt in order to increase the punishments against those who are violent against those sleeping outside to try to begin to reduce hate crimes.

Brian
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Congressional Homeless Civil Rights Hearing

Judiciary Committee to Host Hearing on Hate Crimes

It was announced today the the Senate Judiciary Committee, for the first time ever, will host a hearing to talk about hate crimes directed at people experiencing homelessness. Get your TiVos set for C-Span 3, I would imagine around Midnight after Book TV on the 29th. There is a bill pending that would at least direct the Justice Department to study the issue of attacks on homeless people. NCH will testify along with a family member of a victim and an expert from California who studies this issue.

NOTICE OF SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, has scheduled a hearing entitled “Crimes Against America’s Homeless: Is the Violence Growing?” for Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The hearing is being called by Senator Cardin to chair.

Brian Davis

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Time for the Thank Yous

First Step to Universal Health Care

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has always advocated for Universal access to quality health care as one of the solutions to homelessness. We could significantly reduce the homeless population if there was a better health care system including prevention, drug treatment, mental health and management of long term chronic health conditions for those who are poor. The United States took the first step toward this objective on Sunday with the passage of the health care reform bill. This is not what many advocates wanted, but it is a step forward. It is not public health care, but it is certainly better than we have now.

It is time to reach out to your elected officials and thank them for their vote on Sunday. The staff at the local district offices of your Congressional member need to hear some positive words. I have heard that Congressman's Kucinich's staff have had to endure some of the most horrible hate from the callers and visitors over the last week. For those who support health care reform, you should reach out to Congressman Ryan, Fudge, Boccieri, Kaptur, Sutton, and Kucinich to thank them for their courageous vote this weekend. Too often the supporters stay quiet because they are happy with the results or do not have the time, but to provide some balance it is time to thank those who voted for this historic piece of legislation.

Brian
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National Housing Trust Fund

Please Call Congress National Housing Trust to Get Money Pass This Message on to Others. Let’s Get NHTF Money Before Congress Adjourns for Holidays. Please call your representative and both of your senators on December 1 or 2. Please ask your networks to do the same. Tell them you want at least $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund before Congress adjourns later in December. Urge them to support any bill moving through the House or Senate that contains money for the NHTF. Let them know that providing money for the NHTF will create needed jobs. Every $1 billion investment in the NHTF, at $100,000 per unit of housing, will create 15,100 construction jobs and 3,800 jobs in ongoing operations. Also, the NHTF will support local economies as low income families can afford to spend more money on goods and services when they are not spending half or more of their income on housing. Our goal is to create an early-December blizzard of phone calls from all over the country in a compressed period of time to demonstrate strong and urgent support for an initial infusion of money for the NHTF. Please pass this message on to your networks. 877-210-5351 is the toll free number for the congressional switchboard. Ask to be connected to the housing staffer for your representative's and senators' offices. Questions? Contact NEOCH at 216/432-0540 or see the National Low Income Housing Coalition website at www.nlihc.org

The day of Action was Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. We missed posting it, because of other deadlines. You can still call your Congressman especially Senators Brown and Voinovich to urge them to support the creation and preservation of affordable housing.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones

A Friend to Low Income People Leaves the Stage

All of the staff and Board at the Coalition are stunned by the loss of Stephanie Tubbs Jones as our representative to Congress. Rep. Tubbs Jones talked regularly about housing and health care, and was always willing to attend discussions about homelessness. She was a speaker at our Homeless Memorial Day to grieve for those who passed away, and spoke regularly on defending the rights of voters in Ohio. She recognized the Coalition as the place to get answers regarding homelessness. We supported her efforts to reintegrate those coming back from incarceration into the community, and wish that there had been a better environment in DC for her ideas on universal health care.

I remember Stephanie as always being so enthusiastic for her role as the leading advocate for Cleveland. She truly loved Cleveland, and was our heart. She was born in Cleveland, and was one of our best promoters on the national stage. We were well served in Washington by Rep. Tubbs Jones. The last event that we staged in which Tubbs Jones attended was in 2006 with our protest over the voter identification rules. It was the day before election day November 2006, and we called a vigil outside of the Board of Elections with a few homeless people and ACORN activists. A couple of elected officials attended, but toward the end of the vigil Ms. Jones comes out of the darkness exhausted from an entire day of walking, shaking hands and campaigning for other candidates. Her seat was safe so she traveled the county urging voters to support other democrats. She showed up about 8 p.m. in her slippers telling all those gathered that she felt this was an important event and had to attend. She said a few words before she headed east. We will miss her support; her strong voice, and her inspirational story. She embodied success having moved up the ladder through hard work to become a key decision maker in Cleveland. She was respected by both sides of the political spectrum as chief ethics officer for Congress, and she held powerful committee assignments that will take our region years to regain.

I attended and participated in a number of election time candidate panels featuring, moderated and hosted by Rep. Tubbs Jones. It was always an honor to be given the opportunity to share the stage with Cleveland's leading advocate. I also had the privilege of sitting on a panel with her as a few of the distinguished alumni of CWRU to inspire undergraduate students to work on solving problems in the community while they work toward their degree. She, of course, stole the show as a dynamic public speaker urging the young people to volunteer and bring their talents and treasure to Greater Cleveland. I know that she was a role model to young girls throughout the region who saw that strong women can be successful and can be powerful leaders. Stephanie Tubbs Jones was our regions Secretary of State and Chief Executive Officer, and it is going to take an exceptional person to recapture that role as a successful social justice crusader.

Brian Davis
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Another Friend of Homeless People Passes

Congresswoman Julia Carson Dies

I only was able to hear Rep Carson speak twice, but she was an inspiring woman. Here is the statement that Barb Anderson put together upon hearing of the death of Rep. Carson on Sunday.

"As a member of the Board of Directors of the National Coalition for the Homeless, I have worked for many years as have my peers, to end homelessness in this country. It is an exhausting and frustrating effort. Many programs have been developed over the years with good intent, but they lack the human element and often reduce those we serve to just numbers in a system, or they "cherry pick" the easiest to serve in order to boost their success rate.

NCH and the advocates in Indiana fight daily to serve the most difficult and hardest to reach and heroes are often hard to find. Representative Julia Carson was such a hero. She was a champion, one who utilized the resources around her to promote change and policy that would result in ending homelessness. She worked tirelessly every day to reduce the impact of poverty on our communities. Her work with veterans across this country was phenomenal.

As the sponsor for the Bring America Home Act and the Hearth Act, Representative Carson pursued Congressional support with a vengeance and often managed town hall type meetings to educate her peers. She and her staff worked diligently to provide leadership on the Hill, and not because it was the popular thing to do either but because it was the right thing to do. Representative Carson did things that way, because they were right, they were necessary, and often they weren't popular.

So many who serve us Congressionally stick to the middle of the road or cater to extreme positions without thinking or planning for the ramifications of their votes. Carson stood for: A living wage, affordable housing for all Americans, health care for all Americans, and Civil Rights for all Americans. Julia Carson embraced those ideals and fought hard for them. She worked through the many committees she served on, in the district, and in partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus. She did so with grace and humor.

To hear her speak was enlightening and fun. She would take the most serious subject and make us see our folly with her humor. It is with great respect, love, and admiration that I write this. To those whose voices Julia tried to hold up, understand NCH and homeless advocates throughout the country will continue to champion your causes and will support and embrace those legislators who do so as well. To those who set policy at a national level, we challenge you to try to meet the bar Julia set while she served this wonderful country. We remember her grace and humanity as a Congresswoman, a wife, a mother, and most of all a strong and passionate Christian soldier."

Barb Anderson of Jeffersonville, Indiana and NCH Board Member

I couldn't have said it better.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.