Margaret writes: > For those interested in the issue of criminalizing homelessness- I would > recommend reading the recent Skyway News article entitled "Downtown Banned" > > Below is a quote from the article: > Michael O'Connor, an assistant professor of law at the University of St. > Thomas Law School, 1000 LaSalle Ave., said "banning" raises "serious questions, > both legal and moral." This is particularly true if the crimes are nonviolent, > petty offenses that are tied to economic status. Freedom of movement, travel > and association are considered some of our most cherished rights and liberties."
Here's the link to the story (at this link until Monday, then you can find the story by searching for "banned" in our archives). http://www.skywaynews.net/articles/2004/03/22/news/news01.txt In fairness, I should say that First Precinct Community Prosecutor Lois Conroy took issue with the story. She says prosecutors are pursuing "geographical restrictions," a narrower legal concept than bans. Conroy's contention is that "geographic restrictions" are narrowly tailored to where an offender has offended. She says a "ban" is much broader than that. (Complicating matters, "ban" is the term police and lay people most commonly use to describe stay-away orders.) The broadest restriction/ban we were able to find was from all of Downtown West, which is the entire Downtown Central Business District plus a big chunk of the riverfront. By the way, Conroy notes that these are considered conditions of probation, not a sentence per se. The offender can "chose" to accept them, or stay in jail or the workhouse. David Brauer Editor, Skyway News (and Southwest Journal) REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
