{"id":76061,"date":"2017-06-22T19:10:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T23:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=76061"},"modified":"2017-06-22T19:10:02","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T23:10:02","slug":"denver-decriminalizes-public-defecation-to-make-life-easier-for-migrants-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=76061","title":{"rendered":"Denver Decriminalizes Public Defecation To Make Life Easier For Migrants, Homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"field-tagline\">Making Denver Great Again?<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Making Denver Great Again &#8230; by allowing public defecation?<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sentencing Reform - keeping Denver a welcoming, open and safe city\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mOWOwHit9yY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s the latest from the progressive city that seeks to ensure\u00a0it &#8220;will not sacrifice&#8221; its &#8220;values or bend to a broken immigration system.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Denver City Council\u00a0voted Monday to approve major sentencing reform (in other words, making\u00a0penalties\u00a0more lenient)\u00a0on Class I and II offenses. The latter cover crimes like public defecation, panhandling and camping out on the sidewalk.<em>\u00a0KUSA<\/em> <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.9news.com\/news\/crime\/certain-crimes-will-now-have-lighter-sentences-in-denver\/442367895\" rel=\"nofollow\">reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>City leaders and immigrant rights advocates argued the changes will protect Denver\u2019s immigrant community from facing unintended consequences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany times it becomes a deportable offense if you\u2019ve been convicted of even a minor ordinance violation that\u2019s punishable by a year in jail,\u201d Mark Silverstein said, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Before the ordinance passed, all violations of Denver municipal code were punishable by up to a year in jail and\/or a fine of up to $999.<\/p>\n<p>The ordinance creates new sentencing categories that carry different penalties. Most municipal offenses (Class I) carry a maximum of 300 days in jail and up to a $999 fine. The \u201cClass 2\u201d offenses, however, have no fine and are considered &#8220;quality of life&#8221; offenses that mainly impact the homeless and migrants:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Class 2 offenses typically yield no fine and\u00a0carry a maximum 60-day jail sentence. The crimes include:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Sitting or lying in the public right-of-way<br \/>\nUnauthorized camping on public or private property prohibited<br \/>\nUrinating or defecating in public<br \/>\nPanhandling<br \/>\nCurfews and closures<br \/>\nStorage and loading<br \/>\nProhibitions<br \/>\nSolicitation on or near street or highway<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Usually the defendants are very poverty stricken, maybe even homeless,&#8221;\u00a0Mark Silverstein said. So that makes public defecation OK?<\/p>\n<p>I am sorry, but even a poverty stricken person is free to use a public restroom. In fact, many private businesses will even allow it. How many times have you gone to a Starbucks and seen a homeless person occupy one of the sofas? I can count at least ten times that I&#8217;ve witnessed it, right off the top of my head.<\/p>\n<p>If a\u00a0person does not have the cognition to use a public facility, then he or she is likely under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or is mentally ill, and therefore should not be on the streets to begin with.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.truthrevolt.org\/news\/denver-decriminalizes-public-defecation-make-life-easier-migrants-homeless\">http:\/\/www.truthrevolt.org\/news\/denver-decriminalizes-public-defecation-make-life-easier-migrants-homeless<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making Denver Great Again?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}