'Homelessness Ain't a Crime': MCTU leads rally to Sen. Carpenter's office

Apr. 25—The Madison County Tenants Union (MCTU) held the "Homelessness Ain't a Crime" rally on Monday, serving as one of four Kentucky events set to protest what they call "the most important court case relating to homelessness in the last 40+ years" and the passing of HB 5.

The other events were held in Louisville, Lexington, and Ashland, by other homeless advocacy groups.

MCTU Organizer Mike Harris led the crowd from MCTU's union hall, located at 292 Glades Rd., to Senator Jared Carpenter's rental management agency, KJC Properties, which is at 507 Glades Road.

While Carpenter was away from the office, he said he had "no problem" with the rally.

"I have no problems with people engaging in peaceful protest. There's nothing wrong with it."

While leading the rallying group, Harris said, "We're not just here talking about what's happening in Washington, DC today. We're talking about what's happening in Kentucky today. In Madison County today. Right now in Kentucky."

HB 5 was brought to Governor Andy Beshear's desk on March 28. The governor proceeded to veto the bill on April 9; however, his veto was overruled by a Republican majority.

Of the bill, Harris said, "This does not make Kentucky safer. In this big, 75-page bill, there were included provisions that made it more damaging to people who are renting our homes and made it unbelievably damaging to all of us who don't have a place to stay indoors."

The final version of HB 5:

* Coins the term and prohibits "street camping," which limits where unhoused Kentuckians can sleep, or be present with their belongings, in public places

* Local communities cannot opt out of enforcing the ban on "unlawful camping."

* The penalty for "unlawful camping" in HB 5 is a violation for the first offense (subject to a fine of up to $250) and a Class B misdemeanor for the second and each subsequent offense (which carries a maximum punishment of 90 days in jail and fines of up to $250).

* Continued "unlawful camping" could lead to being charged with a Class B misdemeanor.

* The bill provides that local governments can designate areas for temporary camping for unhoused people that contain potable water and adequate sanitary facilities.

* Expands the "violent offender statute" to include six new offenses

* Creates a "three strikes" law that applies to any person who has been convicted of two previous felonies that qualify them as a "violent offender" under state law.

* If they are later convicted of a third offense included in the violent offender statute, they must receive a sentence of life without parole, or death (if the third offense is eligible for the death penalty).

* Implements a "drug-induced homicide" law, meaning if someone shares, sells, or distributes fentanyl to someone who then dies because of their consumption of the substance, that person can be charged with manslaughter.

* Under previous law, such charges were only possible when police could prove money was exchanged.

* Restricts the operation of charitable bail organizations to limit how much money they can post, which offenses they can post bail for, and information they must publicly report.

* Requires that someone who uses a firearm during a crime be ineligible for any form of early release before the completion of their sentence if the person is a convicted felon, is on any form of supervised release after conviction of a violent felony, or knew (or should have known) the firearm was stolen.

* Expands the death penalty.

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Research Director Ashley Spalding called the bill "regressive." She further asserted that it was filled with "tried-and-failed criminal policies that will increase hardship and incarceration across the state."

However, Sen. Carpenter feels that the bill is a step in the right direction, arguing that this is a persistent issue that he has researched and faced repeatedly in his 13 years as a Senator.

"Longer sentences do not deter violent crime or make communities safer; drug-induced homicide laws have proven ineffective and dangerous in other states; and criminalizing homelessness but not investing in affordable housing will not solve the housing crisis," Spalding said.

The research director argued that the bill will impose "exorbitant" fiscal costs on both state and county budgets while increasing hardship and incarceration, noting that conservative estimates show select portions of the bill will cost more than $1 billion over the next decade.

"Already-struggling counties will be hit particularly hard by increased costs as more Kentuckians are detained pre-trial in chronically crowded jails," Spalding commented, adding that the majority of people there are being held pretrial because they cannot afford bail.

According to the center's research, the Madison County jail is already extremely crowded, at 167% capacity according to the most recent Department of Corrections report.

Sen. Carpenter argues that the provisions in HB 5 do not make homelessness a penalty and that it will protect both the homeless and those who are not homeless, as the places they sleep, like in streets and under bridges, can be dangerous for all involved.

"It's a hazard for them and a hazard for everybody else... Police don't show up and arrest a first time offender to throw them in jail that day. it's not about trying to get people who are homeless in jail. It's about trying to make sure people are getting protection and getting the assistance they need... We don't need more people in jail, but we also don't need to make it unsafe for me, you, and our families."

However, Spalding believes that HB 5 will make it harder for unhoused people to stay safe, and to become economically stable.

"There is a dire shortage of affordable housing in Kentucky, and on any given night in January, there are approximately 4,000 Kentuckians experiencing homelessness. HB 5 would make it harder for unhoused people to survive safely. Not every community has a shelter, and those that do often run out of space," she reported.

Carpenter asserts that, instead of creating "tent cities" and spaces for people to continue living in homelessness, which the bill says cities may do, people need to take advantage of existing rehabilitation and transitional programs that enable long-term change.

"Providing free services for the rest of their life is not a way to make people want to get better and improve, nor does it entice people that are working like you and I have to pay more taxes and pay more fees...I don't want anybody to struggle to have a place to live. We have to create an environment where we can help them do it but they have to want to do it," the senator commented.

There are not yet year-round shelters in Madison County, and those providing shelter often argue that the need is great. However, Madison Home recently announced its new transitional program, which has already seen residents obtaining employment and attending financial management courses.

"I'm for programs that encourage people to get treatment and also to find work opportunities and also just get back to living the life that we all have to live," he explained.

"The recidivism — or the ability to go back and get back on the product of your choice — is super high because you don't you don't have a mindset or a personality change in that short amount of time. You'd have to have some transition and work through that to make it work."

MCTU organizers say that bans on public street camping from the Safer Kentucky Act are directly implicated in the Supreme Court case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, which will affect how homelessness is handled across the country.

The class action lawsuit involves a group of homeless individuals who joined to sue an Oregon city for ordinances it passed that make sleeping in public spaces punishable by a civil citation.

Harvard Law expert Carol Steiker, who is an expert in capital punishment law, hypothesizes that the case will hinge on whether the Court decides the ordinances in Grants Pass are "cruel and unusual," which may therefore come down to whether it believes that the laws are punishing a behavior — camping on public land — or a status, being without a home.

"Because sleep is a physical need, and because Grants Pass has no public shelters for homeless people, the plaintiffs argued, its laws punish their mere existence in the municipality," she said in Harvard Law Today.

This is the belief held by tenants union organizers, who staunchly assert that this legislation punishes people simply for existing while homeless.

MCTU organizer and long-time resident of Madison County, Wendy Mondragon, shared that she has experienced homelessness before as a result of seeking disability benefits following a 20-year career.

Mondragon said, "You can't criminalize homelessness, because it's not a crime to be poor. Homelessness is bad for everyone. We need to spend the money that's going to cost to put people in jail on things that give them dignity and help them instead of building poor houses again."

Union Church Pastor Kent Gilbert, who came representing the Kentucky Council of Churches, asserted that HB 5 will derail the community's most vulnerable, including some of his congregants at Union Church.

"Every tradition teaches us that care for one another is one, and possibly the most important, way that we express our faith in God. There is no way to love God and hate your neighbor...You cannot get close to the things that are divine if you are not willing to be close to the people who need your help," said Gilbert.

Gilbert called attention to how there are some "stop-gap" services in Madison County, including food pantries and sleeping overnight in churches (like the Room in the Inn model.) However, he also argued that those aren't solving the problems of "hard-heartedness and lack of opportunity and resources."

Harris asserted that the county governments do not prioritize emergency shelter funding to meet the needs that people are facing right here in Madison County, saying, "There is a vast need that has gone ignored and unmet."

The MCTU backed these claims with a statement that alleges that 2023 was a record-setting year for the number of evictions filed in Madison County, which was 667, with many who opted to move before a court case even began.

The tenants union said, "We have had to sleep in our cars and pay for hotel rooms that we could not afford in order to have a place to stay. In January of 2023, immediately following the MLK Day march to end homelessness, those of us who had to live in a makeshift emergency shelter off of exit 90 saw our encampment bulldozed. The bulldozers destroyed our personal belongings."

In response, the MCTU collected approximately 1,500 petition signatures in favor of public funding for emergency shelters so that Madison County can house the homeless all year round.

Another MCTU organizer, Jade Jones, said over the microphone, "I'm here to tell Mr. Carpenter that me — along with all of you, along with a thousand of other Madison Countians — do not approve of HB 5. And we won't stand and let it happen. We're here to put our foot down. We're here to march. We're here to be seen and be heard. And tomorrow, we will get change."

The petition was delivered to Sen. Carpenter's office by MCTU organizers.