MCLI Demands Oakland End Sweeps of Homeless Encampments Upon Release of U.N. Report

On October 23, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. on the steps of Oakland City Hall, the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute (MCLI), Western Regional Advocacy Project, The East Oakland Collective, The Village in Oakland, First They Came for the Homeless, and many others will be holding a press conference announcing the release of the U.N. Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing which criticizes the mistreatment of the homeless in Oakland stating that Oakland’s current policies constitute “cruel and inhuman treatment and is a violation of multiple human rights, including the rights to life, housing, health and water and sanitation.”

MCLI calls upon all our supporters and allies to attend this press conference to show your support for the end to the criminalization of homelessness.

MCLI and our allies are demanding that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the City of Oakland end the sweeps of homeless encampments as well as the criminalization of homelessness generally in the Open Letter to Libby Schaff and the City of Oakland to End the Criminalization of Homelessness and Homeless Sweeps Which Are Civil Rights and Human Rights Violations

The U.N. Report comes after a recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal which prohibits the criminalization of homelessness. In the case Martin v. Boise the Court stated that “the Eighth Amendment prohibits the imposition of criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter.”

To read the full text of MCLI’s Open Letter to Libby Schaff go here: http://www.mclihumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018.10.21-MCLIs-Open-Letter-to-Mayor-Libby-Schaaf-and-City-of-Oakland-to-End-Criminalization-of-Homelessness.pdf