Boise — Social and Economic Issues — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Social and Economic Issues

Overcriminalization significantly undermines human flourishing and social well-being by harming the family, social networks, and social citizenship. Additionally, it prevents capable men and women from utilizing their creative capacities in the marketplace. This creates vast issues involving relations with family while incarcerated and reintegration into society after release. On the economic side, draconian cash bail systems undermine justice through basing someone's ability to attain pre-trial release upon their wealth, not their actual threat to society.

How Far Can Cities Go to Police the Homeless? Boise Tests the Limit

“The suit arose when a half-dozen homeless people claimed that local rules prohibiting camping on public property violated the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The plaintiffs prevailed at the appellate level last year, putting the city at the center of a national debate on how to tackle homelessness. Now Boise — after hiring a powerhouse legal team that includes Theodore B. Olson and Theane Evangelis of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher — has asked the Supreme Court to take the case, a decision that could come within days.“

New York Times

December 3, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesDecember 3, 2019New York Times, Boise, IdahoComment

It’s cruel and unusual for Boise to ban sleeping on the streets, appeals court rules

"Cities can’t prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go because it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court said Tuesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with six homeless people from Boise, who sued the city in 2009 over a local ordinance that banned sleeping in public spaces. The ruling could affect several other cities across the U.S. West that have similar laws."

Idaho Statesman

September 4, 2018

Overcriminalization, Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesSeptember 5, 2018Idaho Statesman, Boise

Social and Economic Issues

Galsworthy CJR Program

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