Homeless People Can Sue for $1,000 if 'Harassed' Under New Oregon Bill

A newly proposed law in Oregon would allow the homeless to sue municipalities for as much as $1,000 per violation as part of a new initiative to decriminalize homelessness.

Sponsored by Beaverton-area Democratic Representative Farrah Chaichi, House Bill 3501—otherwise known as the "Right to Rest Act"—would allow anyone experiencing homelessness to use public spaces in "the same manner as any other person" without discrimination for their housing status, including the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy even if they are living in a public space.

Those experiencing homelessness would also be protected from "harassment, citation or arrest" by local police, public or private security personnel, or even employees of local governments—a proposal Chaichi said is an effort to end the practice of punitive policing against those just because they are poor.

Those found in violation of the law would be subject to compensatory damages or $1,000 per violation, "whichever is greater," along with a civil penalty in the amount of $1,000.

"There are more than 220 local laws in Oregon criminalizing homelessness, which effectively means if you are ever unable to afford housing, and you don't have friends or family that you can crash with, or rely on for shelter, you are criminalized," Chaichi said in an April 5 livestream promoting the bill.

Newsweek has reached out to Chaichi's office for comment.

Chaichi, who called the bill her "number one" priority in the stream, said that the legislation is unlikely to pass this session, having already missed a number of key deadlines and a sense of "compassion fatigue" that has taken route in the Oregon state legislature this session.

Meanwhile, federal data show Oregon experienced a 27 percent increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness between 2020 and 2022, the fourth-highest total in the nation.

Though the bill is scheduled for a committee hearing May 4, Chaichi said there will be a rally in favor of the bill on June 1 and—in the coming months—will seek to rally more people to support it.

It's not the only piece of legislation targeting homelessness this session. The Oregon legislature has also already approved $100 million in its upcoming budget for homeless services and housing while, earlier this year, lawmakers made headlines for proposed legislation to begin a year-long trial program to give low-income earners and the homeless $1,000 in guaranteed income per month for rent, emergency expenses, food and childcare.

To advocates, however, the "Right to Rest" bill represents an effort to decriminalize poverty and return to policies enacted during the 1960s limiting the proliferation of "anti-vagrancy laws" established at the state level throughout the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Critics have argued those laws essentially allowed police almost unlimited power to arrest anyone who appeared homeless to be arrested for crimes ranging from loitering to prostitution, oftentimes with widely variable application.

In recent decades, however, those laws have been replaced with ordinances at the local level to restrict the number of homeless persons in public areas, creating an environment advocates say has essentially criminalized the poor.

"Most of the advocate community in the state really want to establish a constitutional right to exist, and I am very sympathetic with that position because I don't believe that when people lose their housing they lose their legal and constitutional rights," Jimmy Jones, executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, told Portland's KATU2 News this week.

Already, however, the bill has received some pushback. In testimony submitted to the committee, some expressed concern about the prevalence of drug use among some of those who are homeless, and feeling unsafe walking around the streets of places like Portland and the state capital of Salem.

The law could also potentially create problems for cities to enact emergency orders like Portland did during the 2021 wildfire season, when the city prohibited homeless people from camping in forested areas around the city to prevent them from igniting or getting hurt by the fires.

Others criticized the bill as "out of touch with reality," citing the failure of previous legislation like a 2021 bill sponsored by current Gov. Tina Kotek mandating that local laws regulating the acts of homeless persons sitting, lying, sleeping, or keeping warm and dry in outdoor public spaces be "objectively reasonable as to time, place, and manner."

Others argued the city was facing increasing issues with crime and homelessness they say has contributed to a decrease in the number of people coming downtown—a fact some believe contributed to Republicans' unexpectedly strong performance in the state during last year's gubernatorial election.

"We are barely hanging onto some semblance of public order in the current climate," one commenter wrote of the bill. "How on earth do you expect this kind of dangerous rhetoric to push the needle forward? This is borderline lunacy. You don't have to step a few blocks in any direction to see how bad things are on the streets of Portland, let alone harden laws in favor of people who clearly struggle with making any kind of thoughtful decisions on their own.

"Stop trying to make this situation worse than it already is. Invest in the damn services that were promised as part of 110," they added. "Promoting Portland to be a beacon for a safe space or the sole arbiter of homelessness in the US not only dangerous, but also highly immoral."

They were not alone. In all, 534 people who wrote about the bill as of Monday—including more than 300 from Portland—were opposed to its passage.

Just five said they were in support.