The irony of it all was this happened right at the 50th Anniversary of Civil Liberties in August. The bad part is different cities from Boston to New York are shipping off their homeless, and no one cares. Is this coming to a town near you?

 

In August the city of Colombia, South Carolina, had a problem. A festival honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement was coming to town.  They couldn’t be seen with all the homeless when guests arrived from all parts of the United States. So the city council held a vote and made homelessness a crime.

 

The Columbia City Council unanimously approved the plan, creating special police patrols that would enforce “quality of life” laws involving loitering, public urination and other crimes not necessarily restricted to the homeless population. Those officers would then offer the homeless a choice: Go to jail for their homelessness or be shuffled to a 240-bed, 24-hour shelter on the outskirts of town, which they wouldn’t be allowed to easily leave.