FLORIDA HOMELESS ATTACKS CONTINUE TO RISE

Violence Against the Homeless - Florida
Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 16:36 | Categories: Homelessness and Housing | Tags: Crimes against the homeless, Florida

Homeless: Orlando could be the most violent metro area in Florida, survey finds, By Willoughby Mariano, August 20, 2009, Orlando Sentinel: “The nation’s third “meanest” city for the homeless may also be the state’s most violent toward them, say survey results being released today. Forty-six percent of homeless people questioned in Orlando and Orange County in an ongoing local survey said they were physically attacked in the past four years by someone they thought was not homeless - well above Florida’s average of 27 percent, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. The same organization last month ranked Orlando as the third “meanest” city in the country, behind Los Angeles and St. Petersburg. A coalition report released earlier this month said that in 2008, Florida led the nation in violence against the homeless for the fourth year in a row…”
Report: Attacks on the Homeless
Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 16:17 | Categories: Homelessness and Housing, Law and Corrections | Tags: Crimes against the homeless, Hate crime legislation, States

* Attacks on homeless bring push on hate crime laws, By Eric Lichtblau, August 7, 2009, New York Times: “With economic troubles pushing more people onto the streets in the last few years, law enforcement officials and researchers are seeing a surge in unprovoked attacks against the homeless, and a number of states are considering legislation to treat such assaults as hate crimes. This October, Maryland will become the first state to expand its hate-crime law to add stiffer penalties for attacks on the homeless. At least five other states are pondering similar steps, the District of Columbia approved such a measure this week, and a like bill was introduced last week in Congress…”
* Florida led the nation last year in violence against the homeless, By Scott Wyman, August 8, 2009, South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Last September, a homeless woman in Pompano Beach was raped and nearly strangled. Earlier in the year, two homeless men in West Palm Beach were shot and killed and a Fort Lauderdale man was accused of harassing the homeless with a chainsaw. Florida led the nation for the fourth consecutive year in violence against the homeless in a report released Saturday by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group documented 30 attacks last year in 10 communities across the state, including three deaths…”

Hate Crime Legislation and the Homeless - Florida
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 13:20 | Categories: Homelessness and Housing, Law and Corrections, Politics | Tags: Crime, Crimes against the homeless, Florida

Advocates push to add attacks on homeless to Florida hate crimes law, By Anthony Man, July 7, 2009, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Horrified by video of teens who went on a rampage beating homeless men in downtown Fort Lauderdale, a state legislator was propelled to push for including attacks on the homeless to the state’s hate crimes law. It is now state law — in Maryland — because state Sen. Alex Mooney, R-Md., saw what he termed “gruesome” video of the Fort Lauderdale incident. His state is the first to include homeless people as a protected group under its hate crimes statute…”