Ocala named to top spot in ‘Hall of Shame’ for treatment of homeless

Laws that target homeless people through bans on panhandling, camping, sleeping and even sitting in public are on the rise across the nation, according to a new report that names Ocala to the top spot in its “Hall of Shame” for “draconian antihomeless” ordinances.

The report, released this week by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, found that punishing the homeless with jail time and fees has increased significantly over the past 13 years as cities grapple with the consequences of rising rents, stagnant wages and decline of federally housing.

Of 187 urban and rural cities across the country surveyed for the report, “Housing Not Handcuffs,” the center found that more than half “routinely punish or harass un-housed people for their presence in public places” through laws that ban camping, sleeping, sitting or lying down in public. Nine percent of the cities ban giving homeless people free food in public.

While saying it recognized that communities often face difficult choices and a lack of money for homeless programs, the nonprofit the severe subsidized center also singled out five cities for “particularly bad policies and/or practices” — a list led by Ocala.

That city is facing a federal class-action lawsuit, filed in September, on behalf of more than 200 homeless people challenging the Marion County city’s heavily enforced trespassing and “openlodging” laws that prohibit sleeping and resting in a tent, under newspapers or in a cardboard structure on public property.

According to the report, three plaintiffs in the lawsuit have collectively spent 210 days in jail and