Challenging Racial Injustice in the Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States: A Human Rights Approach

The criminalization of homelessness in the United States perpetuates a cycle of racial injustice and violates fundamental human rights. Longstanding discrimination in housing and law enforcement have resulted in disproportionate homelessness among Black Americans. Thus, laws and policies that criminalize life-sustaining behaviors, such as sleeping, in public further exacerbate racial disparities, punishing people for homelessness rather than addressing root causes. Criminalization results in fines that people cannot pay and criminal records, driving employment and housing out of reach and circulating individuals from the street to the criminal justice system and back. The criminalization of homelessness also directly violates international human rights to equality and non-discrimination, freedom from torture and ill-treatment, liberty and security of person, freedom of movement, life, and housing. To rectify these violations, the United States must decriminalize homelessness and take concrete steps to realize a right to housing for all its residents. Otherwise, we evade our responsibilities on the domestic and international stage and remain trapped in a cycle of racial injustice