Angel’s Story: Why We Need A Right to Rest in California

“I was treated like dirt.  No consideration.  Like a piece of garbage that you would discard.  Irrelevant and unimportant.  They had no sense of compassion.”  Angel McLain on her experience being homeless

Last Tuesday, St. Anthony’s joined advocates from across the state at a hearing of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.  The Committee was hearing a bill, SB 608 (Liu) that would decriminalize rest: sitting, sleeping, and lying down.  Unfortunately, laws that make rest in public space a criminal activity are prevalent across California.  A recent report from UC Berkeley School of Law studied 58 California cities that collectively make up 75% of the state’s homeless population.  They found that every city they studied used local laws that criminalize sitting, standing, sleeping, or resting in public spaces as a response to homelessness.

Personal testimony is often more powerful than even the most thoroughly researched statistics.  Angel McLain, a formerly homeless woman, shared her story about being criminalized for sleeping or resting while homeless in the East Bay.  (Watch her testify here.)  She spoke about the indignity of being criminalized for being homeless and she also mentioned that the criminal history that she “earned” as a result of being homeless kept her from qualifying from affordable housing.  She currently lives in a hotel where she pays $800 of her $889 monthly income for rent.

In the end, SB 608 was withheld from a vote.  Since the committee members did not vote on the bill, it is not officially “dead”, but remains in committee and can be revisited next year.  To stay updated on our advocacy efforts, including our work on housing and homelessness, health care, work and income, and hunger, sign up to receive our advocacy email alerts.