Measure S, in case you haven't heard, would make it a crime with an $87 fine to sit/lke on a public street in Berkeley, California. More past the orange cloud.
But, you ask, why are you so concerned with Berkeley's laws against the homeless? I grew up in Alameda, just a long bus ride on 51 away.
Far too many cities are taking the easy way out of dealing with the homeless by making it criminal to be homeless without providing resources to get oneself off the streets. According to a study done by National Law Center on Homelesssness & Poverty (NLCHP) 234 american cities have passed law prohibiting begging, while 33% of those prohibiting sitting/lying in public places.
the study also found it costs more to jail people than to provide services for them. $87 a day to jail them and $28 a day to place them in a shelter.
Even The East Bay Express wrote a pro-Measure S article! (The Express is the bay area's version of WW, a very left-leaning free weekly)
This type of measure is no solution to the homeless problem, it only makes the business people happy, but costs us more in the long run.
links:
Alternet article-http://www.alternet.org/...
NLCHP-http://www.nlchp.org/
East Bay Express- http://www.eastbayexpress.com/