New Hampshire’s largest city, Manchester, has begun enforcing a new ban on homeless encampments in public parks and on streets following a U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling which determined that cities are allowed to prevent homeless encampments.
[RELATED: American Cities Can Ban Homeless Encampments, Says SCOTUS…]
“We must address this problem in a comprehensive way, and we have already undertaken 11 initiatives to address the underlying causes of homelessness and the need for more affordable housing in our city. If any individual wants or needs help, it is available. However, anyone choosing to ignore our ordinances or break the law, will be subject to the applicable legal consequences,” said Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais (R).
The new ordinance was passed Tuesday night following a 12-2 vote by the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen, and is a significant expansion of a previous rule that only banned camping between sunset and sunrise, and which was only in effect when shelter space was available.
In addition to approving the new ordinance, Mayor Ruais assigned $500,000 in additional taxpayer funds to help police enforce the law.
The city began enforcing the new rules as early as Wednesday morning.
Some Maine cities have also started to crack down on homelessness, such as Portland, which suffered from a devastating homelessness problem as recently as last year.
Following the SCOTUS ruling, Portland Mayor Mark Dion (D), who campaigned on solving the city’s homelessness problem, celebrated his successes in reducing the number of homeless encampments, while also expressing a belief that he has a responsibility to provide shelter for the homeless.
Mayor Dion told News Center Maine that the new ruling will aid in the city’s fight against homelessness, and highlighted his success in dealing with the problem, pointing out that, while there were 400 tents spread across the city just last year, there are currently only 30 remaining.
Bangor has made its own attempts to fight homelessness, taking a small step on Monday by preventing loitering on medians less than six feet wide, which would effectively outlaw many instances of panhandling.
That ordinance drew the ire of left-wing activists at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine.
The ACLU claimed that the new rule is a violation of the First Amendment, because it threatens the free speech of homeless people who often stand on the medians begging for money.
The ACLU claimed that it may take legal action against the city in an attempt to stop the ordinance.
Good for them. At least someone in NH has a modicum of common sense.
The long week end looked like the all moved to OOB. Janet better get a grant for more cops.
Send them to Portland or Bangor.
To coin a phrase from that idiot puppet Joe Scarborough .
Hey ACLU ……Fuck You .
They’ll be welcome in P-town, ME.