Sometimes experiments really pay off. That’s the case here, where the number of daily comments jumped after I lifted the requirement to register before commenting. There has been a slight increase in spam, but the numbers aren’t big enough to be a burden. So enjoy the freedom to comment, please!

Maybe Charles Djou, who introduced the City Council measure (Bill 69) that would ban sitting or sleeping on a public sidewalk, should perhaps check out the series of ACLU lawsuits filed in federal court in Southern California challenging similar measures.

The City of Laguna Beach settled one of those cases earlier this year. According to the Laguna Beach Independent:

Under the agreement, the city’s police officers will not cite, arrest or harass people under state law simply for sleeping in public places, as long as there are no reasonable public health or safety concerns. City officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The agreement also establishes a process for expunging from the public record citations and convictions obtained under the city’s previous anti-camping ordinance, key portions of which were repealed in February following the filing of the lawsuit last December.

“Laguna Beach’s action on this issue is a model for other cities in how to seek legal, compassionate and economically sound ways of eliminating homelessness, not the homeless,” said Ramona Ripston, the ACLU’s executive director in Southern California.

The ACLU’s federal complaint against Laguna Beach is interesting reading, as is the more recent suit against the City of Santa Monica.

Both complaints argue that basic constitutional rights are violated when cities criminalize homelessness in the absence of sufficient housing alternatives.

Santa Monica violates its homeless residents’ constitutional rights by (1) making it a crime to sleep in public places despite the fact that there is no shelter available for most of the homeless in Santa Monida; and (2) by selectively and discriminatorily citing homeless and disabled residents for offenses such as sitting, sleeping, or smoking cigarettes in public; loitering; and littering, with the intention of driving residents out of Santa Monica and forcing them to “move on” to other cities.

Sounds a lot like the policies in Honolulu, doesn’t it?

California Watch, a project of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, delivered its first package of stories. Great stuff, which was picked up by “more than 30 California media outlets”, according to a follow-up report.

There’s also an interesting note about paths being explored for eventually charging for California Watch content.

We happened to be listening to NPR one day when All Things Considered looked at a study comparing reactions of children, dogs, and wolves. Children and domesticated dogs, that have co-evolved with people for thousands of years, reacted in the same fashion to the test used in the study. Wolves did not, remaining independent. It’s a odd but thought provoking little report. Check it out–“Babies and dogs make the same classic mistake“.

I shared this photo via Facebook earlier this week. It’s a car in Kaaawa sporting an interesting vanity license plate. Am I wrong in thinking this is a strange way to advertise oneself? Anyway, click on the picture for a better view.