Louisiana, State With Highest Poverty Rate, Considers Jailing Unhoused People |
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Originally published by Capital B.
New Orleans — As the Louisiana state Senate debated what the National Homelessness Law Center says is “one of the cruelest anti-homeless bills in the country,” more than 50 mainly Black unhoused people sat and lay on the sidewalk in New Orleans’ Central City neighborhood.
The bill, which already passed overwhelmingly through the state’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives, could subject unhoused people to fines, jail time, or even unpaid labor if they are found sleeping outdoors.
“We’re struggling already and this isn’t a choice,” said Christopher Brumfield, 51. “This isn’t because we’re doing drugs. It is expensive to live, so you’re saying you want to penalize us for struggling?”
Brumfield has been unhoused “on and off” since 2020. He owns a trailer in a small rural town in Louisiana’s Livingston Parish, but he is unable to afford utilities, water, and a new septic tank — which costs upward of $20,000. He came to New Orleans to try to find a job five years ago.
“I’m working, but I can’t afford to stay in the house. I’ll die there,” he said, as he lay on the sidewalk on an 88‑degree spring day.
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Louisiana’s efforts come on the heels of a 2024 Supreme Court decision that allows states and cities to criminalize homelessness. The bill, which is expected to be voted on by the state’s Republican-controlled Senate, would make homelessness and sleeping on the streets punishable by a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to six months, or both. Repeat offenders could face one to two years in prison with hard labor and a $1,000 fine.
Louisiana has the nation’s highest share of people living in poverty, according to the most recent data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. And already, the state has the highest rate of incarceration not just in the U.S., but across the entire Western world.
About 60% of Louisiana’s unhoused population is Black despite the state being 30% Black.
State officials........