Across America, new laws are punishing homeless people simply for existing. In Kentucky, the Safer Kentucky Act makes it illegal to sit, lie down, or carry something as basic as a blanket in public. Homeless people are being fined, arrested, and jailed, even when they have nowhere else to live.
We went to Louisville to see the impact firsthand. We spoke with people who’ve been cited for sleeping, threatened with jail, and forced to move from place to place every few days, losing their belongings again and again. One elderly woman told us how a police officer dragged her down a set of stairs. We also highlight the story of a pregnant woman who was given a citation while she was in labor.
This isn’t just happening in Kentucky. Since the Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling, over 260 cities have passed similar laws. These policies don’t reduce homelessness; they make it worse…