> Under that understanding, no one had a right to camp out indefinitely on public property, much less to defecate on it. Public property belonged to the public—to everyone—and couldn’t be privatized for the benefit of one or more vagrants, however poor or sick. Though that principle would need to be applied to modern circumstances, it is the indispensable starting point for thinking about the shocking problems of the Golden State.
Anyone else find this to be a rather entirely perverse way of thinking about public spaces? Public space is meant to be used by the public and a homeless person has just as much right to use it as anyone else, for as long as they want to. I might be annoyed that they have taken over my favorite park bench but thats part and parcel for living in a society and I don't have a right (morally, if not legally) to use ordinances to stop them
Obviously, it's a whole different issue if we're talking about public health but the solution is to build more public bathrooms and shelters, not criminalize existence.
And to nitpick: considering how much of the west coast is wilderness owned by the Federal government and managed by BLM, you sure as hell do have a right to defecate on public property. It's literally in our nature.
Where do you draw the line? Sitting or sleeping on a public bench all day sure, and i don't think that is what anyone is complaining about. But a tent? a city of tents? all the trash and waste meaning the park is unusable by anyone else?
Using != abusing. Camping in a public space means taking part of it for yourself, permanently. In other words, you're taking away the right of the rest of citizens of using that part of public space.
Exactly. People defecate in the woods all the time, but they have the decency to at least dig a hole and cover it. Just because it's natural to take a shit doesn't mean we should be stepping in it.
Even shitting in the woods isn't great, it's just that most people won't use the better but grosser alternative (shitting in a sealable bag).
In parks where restrooms are provided, like the Grand Canyon, shitting outside of restrooms isn't allowed. Anywhere the foot traffic gets high enough, the park service will put in restrooms and require people to use them to defecate, because the alternative is pretty bad. Even in the wilderness.
Anyone else find this to be a rather entirely perverse way of thinking about public spaces? Public space is meant to be used by the public and a homeless person has just as much right to use it as anyone else, for as long as they want to. I might be annoyed that they have taken over my favorite park bench but thats part and parcel for living in a society and I don't have a right (morally, if not legally) to use ordinances to stop them
Obviously, it's a whole different issue if we're talking about public health but the solution is to build more public bathrooms and shelters, not criminalize existence.
And to nitpick: considering how much of the west coast is wilderness owned by the Federal government and managed by BLM, you sure as hell do have a right to defecate on public property. It's literally in our nature.