The Role of the Criminal Justice System in Decriminalization of the Homeless

Hon. Gordon Baranco, Superior Court of Alameda County, CA

There are 610,000 people who are homeless on any given day in the United States, according to a National Alliance to End Homelessness Report. Approximately, 222,000 are in families and 109,000, about 18%, are chronically homeless. Veterans make up about 9% of the homeless population nationally, according to the Alliance.

This issue of was addressed at an all day forum entitled: Ending Criminalization of the Homeless: The Role of Courts, Lawyers and  Advocates. Hosted by the American Bar Association, California Administrative Office of the Courts and Center for Court Innovation, the forum took place in San Francisco after the International Community Justice Summit.

You can link to some of the summit materials below:

American Bar Association Resolution on the Right to Housing

American Bar Association Recommendations on Housing and Community Development

Veterans Administration Reentry Video

Veterans Administration Homeless Message from Secretary Shinseki Video




By Christopher Watler, Project Director-Harlem Community Justice Center

I am blogging from the 2014 International Community Court Summit in San Francisco this week. The Summit is co-organized by the California Administrative Office of the Courts and the Center for Court Innovation, with support from the U.S Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance and the California Endowment. Follow the conference on twitter #communityjustice2014