Neighbor Please, Be Your Brother’s Keeper!

A recent city council summary reports 359 calls for illegal camping.  That’s almost 359 Eugenians who’ve basically declared, “I am not my brother’s keeper–come, remove these homeless campers, and exclude them from our community, and please hurry!”

During past discussions I’ve had with police officers about camping, much to their credit, some actually confided to me almost apologetically, wishing they were not being used to deal with homelessness in such a manner, that their time could have been used towards more important priorities.

This proved to me, that the way in which the city uses the anti-camping ordinance to enforce compliance, is a perfect example of good cops having to enforce bad law.

People, simply because you are freely invited to report such incidents, does not absolve you from the karma of additional suffering, you place upon already hopeless and hurting individuals.

Stop complaining, and using our police as proxies for your anger and frustration!  Stop using our police and volunteers to do such dirty work, in denying the homeless what little they have!  If you must call, please request that they check the welfare of those campers instead.

This way, your concerns will be investigated, but you won’t be placing either side under such tense, adversarial situations, complaints will drop, and you’ll feel better about yourselves as first responders, as good Samaritans, instead of overzealous, contemptuous, malicious, and selfish neighbors, having a turf war with themselves.

Danielle R. Smith

Behave Does Not Mean Get Out Of Town, Mr. City Attorney!

There are times in heart and mind, when something desperately needs  to be said, yet we realize that only we know what that is, how to say it, or if we should, knowing if we don't, nobody else will.

The result is that others will continue to suffer needlessly, because no one challenges the devil’s advocate, or his absurd, false accusations; whose use of Prohibited Camping Ordinance 4.815, violates the equal protection clause of the constitutions of the State of Oregon and the United States.

When fewlegal options exist, campers are forced to choose the lesser evil as willful violators, and they are damned well justified in defending their freedom of travel, personal privacy, and right to sleep!  Choice of Evils was already used to defend a camper in court; the City did in fact dismiss charges, and set a precedent against its self.

Attorney Glenn Klein, citizens of Eugene–those stripped of citizenship rights, who are at risk of being stripped of all personal belongings–deserve to know in exact detail, how they are expected tobehave.

Before your homies make fools of themselves, and hurt more innocent homeless homies, as willful violators having no compelling state interest, the unconstitutional portion(s) of the ordinance should be severed–not standing in court–because to the best of my knowledge, the amendment was illegally inserted in violation of law, which requires a 10-day public comment period that the citizens of Eugene were denied.  Now, who is the willful violator?

Danielle R. Smith

re: Homeless Connect ‏From: Danielle smith (msdrswriter@yahoo.com)
Sent: Wed 3/10/10 10:50 AM
To: Ted Taylor (editor@eugeneweekly.com)
Cc: Danielle Smith (studio.five@hotmail.com)Ted, that’s wonderful, thank you and Jennifer for getting that message out. I do not understand what happened, but I hope this reaches EW.Danielle Smith

— On Tue, 3/9/10, Ted Taylor <editor@eugeneweekly.com> wrote:

From: Ted Taylor <editor@eugeneweekly.com>
Subject: re: Homeless Connect
To: msdrswriter@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 1:50 PM

Hi Danielle,
We’re leading off our Slant column this week with a call for volunteers for Homeless Connect and I can add lawyers to the list of needed volunteers. Our letters were compiled last Friday. Not sure why your emails to me bounced. Sorry if it’s a problem on our end. I can get it in our web letters this week. We have more readers online than we do in print.
Ted Taylor
Editor

“On behalf of the Homeless”

I wish to make a special public appeal to all local defense attorneys specializing in civil and human rights, and the ACLU, to please consider volunteering your legal expertise for the homeless at the Homeless Connect on March 18, 2010, and throughout these difficult economic times. They have no representation, no one to turn to for necessity camping advice against Eugene’s abusive, and unconstitutional, camping ordinance.

No homeless individual, or family should ever have to lose vehicles, worldly possessions, camping gear, food, or to impound while waiting for the City, or St. Vincent De Paul–but they are!

Help them to know their rights, to understand and fight against police harassment, illegal searches, public nuisance citations, anti-camping laws, panhandling laws (the most highly resented, in fact hated, constitutionally protected, free speech), and also offer them your pro-bono assistance in homeless related cases of unfair impound of vehicles, storage of personal belongings, or other violations of state laws regarding the removal of homeless from their camps.

The homeless of Lane County are all misjudged and condemned; and all suffer for that which is clearly beyond their control. “Choice of Evils” defense is a must! Please help them to hang on and survive along their Homeless Trail of Tears!

I am a formerly homeless resident, grateful for all those pro-bono lawyers and older homeless activists, who stood up for me in my hour of need, in defending my rights and taking back my innocence.

Danielle R. Smith