A newly introduced bill in the Louisiana Senate is hoping to address homelessness across the state by offering resources through a Homeless Court Program, which could potentially provide access to treatments for mental health or drug addiction.
While resources like that could be essential for some of the state’s most vulnerable populations, the bill also creates the crime of “unauthorized camping” on public property, punishable by up to two years’ hard labor for repeat offenders.
If individuals complete the court-mandated diversion program and meet other stipulations, they could get their criminal records wiped clean. For that to happen, individuals in the program would need to attend regular check-ins with service providers and complete court-ordered mandatory treatments…