I’m always amazed by the hatred and anger people feel at the homeless. It’s such a polarizing social event - you either want to help or want to run away. Yet MILLIONS, 3.5 million in 2006 (the population of Denver, Colorado) of people every year are homeless through no fault of their own. They lose their homes, lose their jobs, lose everything.

Yet people attack them for this even though in most cases the losses are not their fault! Yes, there are addicts who become homeless, or homeless who become addicts, but NOT everyone on the streets is an addict. And of those who are, that’s still no reason to hate them. There but for the grace of God….as the saying goes. Being homeless is not a moral failing. It’s a failing of many things, on many levels. From being bad choices to being in the wrong place, wrong job, wrong relationship at the wrong time….it can happen to any of us. It’s not a crime - but the government is making it one.

I found this great blog - a “homeless news roundup” - that really does highlight the plight of the homeless around the country. What rings true around the country is that the police continue to violate people’s civil rights, as do so many cities and officials. How? By taking the property of homeless people and throwing it away without due process of law!! I think the homeless ought to organize and SUE the government for civil rights violations on that count. Would you stand by while a cop grabbed the contents of your home and threw it all in a garbage truck? Happens every day to the homeless. Where’s a good, greedy, ambulance chasing lawyer when you need one eh? Let’s SUE, then open a hotel for the homeless with the $$.

Anyone else besides me who has read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights lately? Let’s revisit the 4th and 14th Amendments

The 4th Amendment protects individuals against unreasonable and unwarranted searches and seizures of their property. It establishes conditions for the lawful issuing and use of search warrants by government officials to protect the right of individuals to security “in their persons, houses, papers, and effects.” There must be “probable cause” for issuing a warrant to authorize a search or arrest; and the place to be searched, the objects sought, and the person to be arrested must be precisely described.

However, the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868 opened new possibilities that expanded the protection of the 4th amendment. The 14th amendment states that “no state…shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

Lawyers? Are you listening? Cities have DEEP DEEP POCKETS and there are lots of victims out there.