Academic

Poverty keeps growing in the U.S. but the press is almost blind to it

Posted on December 05, 2009
The American press follows the lead of politicians by zeroing out coverage of poverty at a time when ?the U.S. has the greatest income inequality, highest per capita prison population and worst health conditions of all high-income countries,? Jeffrey Sachs, a leading figure on world poverty, says Jeffrey Sachs, a leading figure on world poverty...

Homeless man arrested for stealing a slice of pizza

Posted on December 05, 2009
A 53-year-old homeless man was arrested for taking a slice of pizza from a buffet line in Fort Walton Beach.When a member of the wait staff told the man he would have to pay for the food, the man said, ?No? and walked away, a police report said. A customer of the restaurant stopped the man and told him he needed to pay for the food he ate...

Jesus Christ dumped from jury pool for disruption

Posted on December 04, 2009
Jesus Christ was called for jury duty this week in Birmingham, Alabama.Court officials were skeptical at first when on Monday a potential juror submitted a name change form with "Jesus Christ" on it. But the 59-year-old Birmingham woman, who previously went by Dorothy Lola Killingworth, assured the presiding judge that was her name...

San Diego sued for trashing homeless people's belongings

Posted on December 03, 2009
The city of San Diego has been accused of conducting ?well-planned, ruthlessly executed and mean-spirited raids? to harass homeless residents and drive them out of town.The 26-page lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of homeless people who said their belongings were illegally confiscated and destroyed...

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Two teens get life for killing homeless men

Posted on December 03, 2009
Bound by handcuffs and leg irons, Thomas J. McCloud Jr. and Dontez Tillman betrayed few emotions as they headed to prison for life for beating two homeless men to death in an attack described as "sport."The two 15-yesar-olds were convicted of first-degree murder in the separate August 2008 slayings of 61-year-old Wilford "Frenchie" Hamilton and Lee Hoffmann Jr...

Cold night shelter named for -- get this -- a homeless man

Posted on December 02, 2009
At age 60, Shakey Burnett has lived on the streets for nearly 20 years, a lot of it in Tarpon Springs. Too often, homeless people are overlooked when groups are put together to make decisions on how to help them -- or when new facilities are opened.But city officials in Tarpon Springs have named a cold night shelter after a homeless man...

I skipped a meal to fight hunger!

Posted on December 01, 2009

Google takes us all to law school

Posted on November 29, 2009
You can now search Google Scholar to find opinions by searching specific cases (like Gideon v. Wainwright) or topics (like free speech). You can type a phrase like "right to counsel" and get results for cases in which such a phrase is in included.Google thinks being able to search these opinions will empower average citizens by helping them learn more about the laws that govern them...

Low-wage workers are often cheated, study says

Posted on November 29, 2009
Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.The study, the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade, also found that 68% of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week...

Can a wiki help homeless services collaborate?

Posted on November 28, 2009
Tampa Bay Homeless Resource is a collaborative website for advocates, service providers, government and citizens to share and find help, services, resources, news and volunteer opportunities to help end homelessness in Tampa Bay.Started by the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County to be a vast collection of Tampa Bay homeless resources and information...

Suspect in homeless man's murder allowed to leave his house for one hour a day

Posted on November 27, 2009
Joel Boner (center) was attacked outside his tent at an Ocoee homeless camp and stabbed in the back as many as seven times.For three months, murder suspect John Hawthorne has been confined to his family's Ocoee home, forbidden to go even on the front porch...

30 years later, she finds her father living on the streets of St. Petersburg

Posted on November 25, 2009
For decades, Carl Schmidlin kept a photo of a daughter he hadn?t seen in 30 years. He lost the photo but has reconnected with the daughter.Jenna Lombardi was 3 when Carl Schmidlin left. She didn't know he even existed until she was 12, didn't start looking for him until she was 18...

?I?m proud to go to jail for housing the homeless?

Posted on November 24, 2009
A defiant Dan de Vaul stretched out his arms and let deputies place handcuffs on him before being led out of the courtroom.A Central California rancher who houses homeless people on his property has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for safety violations...

Church sells Tiffany window to help the homeless

Posted on November 21, 2009
The stained glass window depicts St. John the Divine and was created by the Tiffany Studios. It was installed in the church in 1896.Proceeds from the sale of a Tiffany stained glass window will be used to repair a church's leaking roof so it can continue to host a winter shelter for people who need a place to sleep and a warm meal...

But how do I tweet without my cellphone?

Posted on November 15, 2009
A federal judge has banned tweeting in his courtroom, ruling that it violates Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53.*When I go to the federal courthouse in Orlando, I have to leave my cellphone in the car (unless I've obtained a special order from one of the judges in advance)...

UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homeless

Posted on November 13, 2009
A United Nations special investigator has accused the American government of pouring billions of dollars into rescuing banks and big business while treating as "invisible" a deepening homeless crisis.Raquel Rolnik, the UN special rapporteur for the right to adequate housing, who has just completed a seven-city tour of America, said it was shameful that a country as wealthy as the US was not spending more money on lifting its citizens out of homelessness and substandard, overcrowded housing...

Why a church is banned from feeding the needy

Posted on November 10, 2009
The kitchen is closed at a Phoenix church that fed the homeless.CrossRoads United Methodist Church lost an appeal over a city ordinance that bans charity dining halls in residential neighborhoods.The hearing officer, retired Arizona Supreme Court Justice Robert Corcoran, ruled that feeding the homeless at a place of worship can be banned by city ordinance...

Vote for the 13th juror!

Posted on November 10, 2009

Do laws against camping in public spaces amount to cruel and unusual punishment?

Posted on November 09, 2009
Seven homeless Boise residents are suing the city and the police department, saying that rules against camping in public spaces amount to cruel and unusual punishment in a city where shelters are overflowing.The lawsuit, filed in federal court, echoes similar cases popping up around the nation, all targeting rules that advocates say amount to the criminalization of homelessness...

Court ruling "basically knocks our legal arguments out right underneath us"

Posted on November 08, 2009
Johnny Lee Smith holds a sign asking for donations as he stands on the side of a road in Medford, Oregon.The city of Medford, Oregon, has backed away from appealing a court decision that found the city's panhandling law unconstitutional. But the city's police chief told council members a new proposal to control begging is in the works...

Business owners plan memorial for homeless man

Posted on November 07, 2009
Business owners in Fort Lauderdale repeatedly tried to convince Douglas Schutt to stop boozing and living outdoors, but he refused.Business owners on Las Olas Boulevard knew him as a helpful, homeless man who washed cars and did other cleaning chores in exchange for a few dollars...

Jury awards $41K to homeless victim of frat shooting

Posted on November 04, 2009
A jury awarded $41,421.06 in damages to a homeless man who was shot by an Oregon State University fraternity member in 2006. Dennis Sanderson, who since has found lodging, will receive $6,421.06 for his medical expenses and $35,000 for non-economic damages...

Teens plead not guilty in YouTube beatdown of homeless man

Posted on November 03, 2009
Two teen-agers charged with an attack on a homeless man in Pompano Beach that was filmed and posted online have pleaded not guilty.Those men -- Nicholas Bakum, 19, of Lighthouse Point, and William Sleight, 19, of Deerfield Beach -- are among four suspects accused of roughing up 54-year-old James Cunningham...

A twisted tale of government getting in its own way

Posted on November 02, 2009
To see a twisted tale of government getting in its own way, look no further than Palm Beach County's efforts to turn $7.5 million in federal stimulus money into a homeless center.Federal restrictions on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant are so confining as to make success nearly impossible...

Holidays soup up the debate about feeding Gainesville's homeless

Posted on November 01, 2009
Public outcry against city laws limiting how many destitute people can be served at any one location is reverberating in Gainesville as the city's largest meal provider on Thanksgiving and Christmas grapples with a 130-meal limit.Kent Vann, executive director of the St...

Did fraternity cultivate "an environment of animosity towards homeless"?

Posted on October 31, 2009
A jury will decide whether an Oregon State University fraternity is responsible for the shooting of a homeless man.One of its members, Josh Grimes, shot Dennis Sanderson in the leg in October 2006 with a .22-caliber rifle, aiming from a window of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house...

Teens busted for YouTube beat down of homeless man

Posted on October 30, 2009
Four young men accused of roughing up a homeless man in Pompano Beach and then posting videos of the beating on the Internet are facing charges of kidnapping and battery.Detectives found the videos online while investigating a deadly Oakland Park beating...

Arrestee in Ocoee homeless man's murder wants more freedom

Posted on October 29, 2009
Joel Boner (center) was attacked outside his tent at an Ocoee homeless camp and stabbed in the back as many as seven times.John Hawthorne, 19, faces a second-degree murder charge in the Ocoee slaying of homeless man Joel David Boner. He's out awaiting trial on $25,000 bond, wearing a GPS anklet (they call that "electronic supervision")...

2 teens convicted in beating death of homeless man

Posted on October 28, 2009
A second teen was convicted this morning in the beating death of a homeless man in Pontiac, Michigan, more than a year ago.Dontez Tillman and Thomas McCloud, both 15, face life in prison without parole for first-degree felony murder. The two were convicted in Wilford Hamilton's death...

Trial date set in stabbing death of homeless man

Posted on October 01, 2009
A trial has been scheduled for May 17 for a teen-ager accused of stabbing a homeless man to death in July.John Hawthorne, 19, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Joel David Boner, 32, in July. The trial is set for May 17.Ocoee police said Hawthorne and a friend found a camp where some homeless people live on land once owned by Hawthorne's family...

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