On, September 29, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee’s crime subcommittee held an historic hearing to consider extending new protections to homeless people.
“When I hear the horrific stories about murders, assaults and rapes committed against our nation’s homeless I ask myself: Is this America?” began Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), who presided over the hearing. Sen. Cardin champions a bill which would require law enforcement around the nation to record statistics on any crimes committed against the un-housed in America.
This legislation would, for the first time, identify homeless persons as a class of people who need to be given special consideration, similar to those who are discriminated against by sex, race or religion. Speakers at the hearing included The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson, United States Representative for the 30th District of Texas, Professor Brian Levin from California State University, San Bernardino, Professor Erik Luna from Washington and Lee School of Law, Commander Richard Wierzbicki of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, David Muhlhausen, Ph.D. from the Heritage Foundation and Simone Manning-Moon, whose brother was killed in an instance of violence against the homeless.
Of these speakers, only Muhlhausen expressed skepticism. “Policymakers should be cautious in accepting the validity (of) statistics generated by homeless advocates,” said Muhlhausen.
He argued that “crimes against the homeless have not risen to a level that requires formal data collection by the federal government.”
Muhlhausen challenged National Coalition for the Homeless’ statistics, which indicate that the deaths of 43 homeless people were caused by violent crime last year and portrayed the homeless as more frequenly perpetrators than victims of crime.
Cardin as well as the other speakers who were in attendance expressed shock at his comments, contending that Muhlhausen made no compelling argument against the law which would be set to protect a class of people who need protection.
Neil Donovan, CEO of the National Coalition for the Homeless, who was in attendance, but did not speak during the hearing, concurred with the Senator and other speakers, stating that Muhlhausen’s arguments were “ill constructed” and ignorant,” because they do not take into account the dignity of each individual who was slain. The other speakers pointed to the need to identify crimes against the homeless population and how, as that population continues to increase, so does violence against it.
Cardin specifically referenced the beating death of Norris Gaynor as well as John McGraham, who was doused with gasoline and set on fire in a horrifically violent incident. “These are only two examples of a larger problem,” said Cardin.
The state of Florida enacted legislation earlier this year that requires the reporting of crimes against the homeless.
Speaking from his experience in the state, Wiezbicki stated that it would take very little to put this policy into use, but that the change would help to significantly protect the vulnerable community of the un-housed. Wiezbicki said that the new reporting requires only a small software change and an additional box for law enforcement to check in their paperwork. This information however permits law enforcement agencies to pinpoint precise areas where crimes that target the homeless are occurring and help identify the culprits.
According to Wiezbicki, previous hate crimes legislation have allowed his department to deploy more officers to areas which such crimes take place and have lowered such incidences. He said being able to identify potential criminals and classes of individuals who the crimes may be committed against is invaluable.
The most emotional testimony of the day came from Manning-Moon, sister of Norris Gaynor, who was beaten to death by two teenagers in 2006.
“It is a tragic twist of irony that my big brother wanted only to live a rather anonymous existence and mind his own business, and yet we’re here today…in our nation’s Capitol to discuss him – and to put a face to him,” said Manning-Moon. She described her brother as a humble man and one who took responsibility for himself and his own actions.
According to her, even when Gaynor discovered that he was eligible for Social Security benefits, he refused because according to him, he was able to take care of himself.
“And the supreme irony? The taxpayers are not taking care of his bat-wielding murderers,” she said while holding back tears. “And make no mistake; he was murdered because he was homeless.”
Johnson, the Congresswoman from Texas, concurred with the sentiment that this legislation is necessary. Citing data from the National Coalition for the Homeless, Johnson stated that between 1999 and 2010, there were more than 1000 bias-motivated attacks committed against the homeless, 291 of which were homicides. She first introduced the Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act in the 110th Congress.
“The National Coalition for the Homeless has done an outstanding job collecting data on homeless hate crimes over the past 10 years,” she stated. “However, federal recognition is essential in order to understand and curb this type of violence.”
“It has taken a long time to get to (the point where we are having a congressional hearing on the topic),” said Donovan. Summarizing what was gained from the hearing, he said, “This is about moving the conversation from ‘Can that National Coalition for the Homeless collect the data?’ to the importance of the data itself.” He went on to say that this hearing and the data that can be collected will shed a much needed light on the topic of violence against the homeless. Cardin said he believes that this legislation will easily pass by a supermajority in the Senate in 2011. According to not only him, but other experts in attendance, there is very little cause for opposition to this legislation.
“Homelessness should not exist and homeless people should not be targets,” said Cardin when asked why he is championing this bill, “(this violence is) un-American and we must take up the cause of vulnerable populations in this country and around the world.”
