博伊西的無家可歸斗爭是如何波及整個西海岸的

博伊西的無家可歸斗爭是如何波及整個西海岸的

It's billed as one of the most livable places in the country with its good schools, leafy streets and safe neighborhoods. That's what makes Boise, Idaho, an odd backdrop for a heated legal fight around homelessness that is reverberating across the western United States and may soon be taken up by the Supreme Court.

它被宣傳為全國最適宜居住的地方之一，擁有良好的學(xué)校、綠樹成蔭的街道和安全的社區(qū)。這使得愛達荷州的博伊西成為一場圍繞無家可歸者展開的激烈法律斗爭的奇怪背景，這場斗爭正在美國西部回響，可能很快就會被最高法院受理。

It goes back nearly a decade to when seven homeless people sued Boise for repeatedly ticketing them for sleeping outside. Last year the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their favor. The decision said it was "cruel and unusual punishment" to enforce rules that stop homeless people from camping in public places when they have no place else to go.

這要追溯到近10年前，當(dāng)時7名無家可歸的人起訴博伊西，因為他們在外面睡覺而不斷給他們開罰單。去年，第九巡回上訴法院做出了對他們有利的裁決。該決定稱，強制執(zhí)行禁止無家可歸者在沒有其他地方可去的情況下在公共場所露營的規(guī)定是“殘忍和不同尋常的懲罰”。

That means in states across the ninth circuit — including Washington, Oregon and California — cities and counties can no longer enforce similar statutes if they don't have enough shelter beds for homeless people sleeping outside.

這意味著在第九巡回州——包括華盛頓、俄勒岡和加利福尼亞——如果沒有足夠的避難所床位供無家可歸者露宿，城市和縣將不能執(zhí)行類似的法令。

Pam Hawkes was one of the original plaintiffs in the case. She now lives in Spokane, Wash., where she's been in and out of homelessness and only recently found stable housing. Seven years ago, she and her then-partner had nowhere to live in Boise and many nights they had no other choice but to pitch a tent in a wooded area along the river.

帕姆·霍克斯是本案的原原告之一。她現(xiàn)在住在華盛頓州的斯波坎。她在美國無家可歸，最近才找到穩(wěn)定的住所。七年前，她和當(dāng)時的伴侶在博伊西沒有地方住，很多個晚上，他們別無選擇，只能在河邊的樹林里搭起帳篷。

"I was like, I just need somewhere to lay my head overnight, and it's not like we left camp up," she said. "We always packed up and we always kept it clean."

她說:“我當(dāng)時想，我只是想找個地方過夜，但我們又沒有離開營地。”“我們總是收拾東西，總是保持干凈。”

Even though she says she tried to keep herself hidden, it didn't stop police from issuing her more than a dozen tickets. Like most people living on the streets, Hawkes didn't have steady work and couldn't pay the fines. So she ended up in jail.

盡管她說她試圖隱藏自己，但這并沒有阻止警察給她開十多張罰單。和大多數(shù)流落街頭的人一樣，霍克斯沒有穩(wěn)定的工作，也交不起罰款。結(jié)果她進了監(jiān)獄。

"I'd never been in jail a whole day and night before," she said. "It was terrifying." Boise has hired a high-powered Los Angeles-based law firm to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Dozens of other municipalities and organizations ranging from the downtown LA YMCA to a group of California counties have filed amicus briefs in support of the review.

“我從來沒有在監(jiān)獄里呆過一整天，”她說。“這是可怕的。”博伊西聘請了一家總部位于洛杉磯的高級律師事務(wù)所，向最高法院提起上訴。從市中心的基督教青年會到加州的一些縣，其他幾十個市和組織已經(jīng)提交了法庭之友的簡報，支持這項審查。

Meanwhile the fight over how to deal with the ever-growing homelessness crisis — most acutely visible in places such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle — is dividing cities, neighborhoods and political parties.

與此同時，如何應(yīng)對日益嚴重的無家可歸危機的斗爭——在洛杉磯、舊金山和西雅圖等地最為明顯——正在使城市、社區(qū)和政黨產(chǎn)生分歧。

It was a deciding factor in the unusually heated Boise mayoral race between two Democrats this past fall. Like many western cities in particular, Boise is in the midst of an extraordinary affordable housing shortage. It's also one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, a source of tension in some corners.

這是去年秋天兩位民主黨人在博伊西市長競選中異常激烈的決定性因素。與許多西方城市一樣，博伊西也面臨著嚴重的經(jīng)濟適用房短缺。它也是美國發(fā)展最快的城市之一，也是一些地區(qū)緊張局勢的根源。

The message that prevailed was Lauren McLean's, the president of the city council. "The part that is missed all too often is the importance of prevention, if we want to prevent camps, we have to prevent homelessness," she said during a forum at at a local homeless shelter. "We've got to address the affordability crisis in the community."

廣為傳之的信息是市議會總統(tǒng)勞倫麥克萊恩的。她在當(dāng)?shù)匾粋€無家可歸者收容所的論壇上說:“我們常常忽略了預(yù)防的重要性，如果我們想要阻止難民營，我們就必須防止無家可歸。”“我們必須解決社區(qū)的負擔(dān)能力危機。”

In a divisive run-off earlier this month, McLean handily beat the city's longest ever serving mayor, Dave Bieter. He took heat for the city's spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars to appeal a case, money that some argued should be going to housing and more support services for the homeless.

在本月早些時候的決勝選舉中，麥克萊恩輕松擊敗了史上任期最長的市長戴夫·比特。他對紐約市花費數(shù)十萬美元上訴的行為感到憤怒，一些人認為這筆錢應(yīng)該用于住房和為無家可歸者提供更多的支持服務(wù)。

In cities like those, and Los Angeles, the homelessness crisis is far more eye-opening than in Boise. Homeless encampments are sprouting up in underpasses, along streets and on scores of sidewalks and inside parks.

在這些城市和洛杉磯，無家可歸的危機比博伊西更讓人大開眼界。無家可歸者的營地在地下通道、街道、人行道和公園內(nèi)如雨后春筍般出現(xiàn)。