Advocacy
Challenging the Criminalization of Poverty & Marginalization
Throughout the globe, petty offenses, such as loitering laws, are used to exert social control. In the United States and locally in Miami, the use of petty offenses to criminalize poverty is a critical issue where people experiencing homelessness regularly face the threat of criminal sanctions for fulfilling basic needs. In the Caribbean and Africa, laws against “vagrancy,” being a “rogue or vagabond,” “loitering,” “wandering,” and “idleness” are used to target unpopular groups, such as the poor, migrants, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and sex workers and to justify “sweeping exercises,” or mass arrests to get unwanted people off the streets.
The Housing Rights Initiative works to challenge the criminalization of poverty and marginalization. In September 2023, the Human Rights Clinic and National Homelessness Law Center submitted a report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee and a report to the U.N. Special Rapporteurs on Extreme Poverty and the Right to Adequate Housing on the criminalization of homelessness and mental health. The Clinic further developed a factsheet in English, French, and Spanish highlighting these concerns. Please see a web story on the advocacy with the Human Rights Committee. This advocacy paid off and in its Concluding Observations, the Human Rights Committee urged the U.S. to abolish laws criminalizing homelessness, offer incentives for states and municipalities to do the same, and redirect funding to adequate housing. In February 2023, the Clinic and National Homelessness Law Center submitted a report to the UN Expert Mechanism on Racial Justice and Law Enforcement on the intersection of racism, homelessness, and law enforcement in the U.S.
The Clinic also published an article on a human rights approach to address racial injustice in the criminalization of homelessness, as well as guidance on addressing the Super Bowl’s impact on homelessness.
In June 2021, the Clinic filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit in the case of Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, highlighting that punishing homelessness through the imposition of fines and fees for life-sustaining activities violates international human rights law. The brief was filed in collaboration with the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) and Leilani Farha, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and Global Director of The Shift. The brief specifically focuses on violations of the right to be free from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and argues that a human rights analysis should inform interpretation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, which hinges on “evolving standards of decency.” The brief concludes by noting that the U.S.’s failure to recognize the right to adequate housing is at the root of punishment for homelessness. Please find a web story and Human Rights at Home Blog with additional information. The Ninth Circuit issued a positive decision holding that “the City of Grants Pass cannot, consistent with the Eighth Amendment, enforce its anti-camping ordinances against homeless persons for the mere act of sleeping outside with rudimentary protection from the elements, or for sleeping in their car at night, when there is no other place in the City for them to go.” However, the City of Grants Pass then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unfortunately overturned the Ninth Circuit decision. The Clinic, in collaboration with the National Homelessness Law Center, supported the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights in submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on the relevant international human rights law. Please find a Human Rights at Home Blog with additional information.
Additionally, the Clinic collaborated with Matters at Play design lab at DePaul University, NHLC, and the Fines & Fees Justice Center to develop a series of virtual, interactive simulations highlighting how fines and fees in the U.S. justice system perpetuate poverty. The simulations require players to role play with the goal of generating empathy around the impossible binds current laws and policies place people. In April 2021, Clinic students piloted these simulations with local high school students at the Cushman School, leading a session on the criminalization of poverty. The Clinic further developed a Street Law lesson plan and PowerPoint for teaching a session on the criminalization of poverty, centered around the challenges.
In October 2021, the Clinic presented before the Miami City Commission on the problems with a Miami Ordinance criminalizing encampments on public property. The Clinic further developed a know your rights flyer for people experiencing homelessness on protecting their property. In response to a Miami Beach Ordinance criminalizing lying or sleeping in public, in April 2024, the Clinic submitted a complaint to the U.N. Special Rapporteurs on Adequate Housing and Extreme Poverty on the criminalization of unhoused persons in Miami Beach and provided a supplemental submission in June 2024.
In June 2020, the Clinic submitted a comment providing a human rights analysis of the problems with a Miami Ordinance criminalizing food sharing, or the feeding of people experiencing homelessness in large groups in public places without a permit and at non-designated feeding locations (with only 5 inconvenient locations designated). The Clinic further developed a flyer for food providers on how to navigate this law. In June 2024, the Clinic submitted a complaint on this ordinance and the criminalization of group feedings in Miami to the U.N. Special Rapporteurs on Food, Adequate Housing, and Extreme Poverty.
In addition to work in the United States, the Clinic has also worked globally on addressing the criminalization of poverty, marginalization, and homelessness. In March 2024, the Clinic launched a report on Criminalization of Homelessness in the Caribbean: A Baseline Assessment in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico.
In April 2019, the Clinic filed a submission with the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights on the gender impacts of vagrancy laws, in collaboration with Lawyers Alert-Nigeria. The submission considered the colonial roots of vagrancy laws and examined how they facilitate discriminatory policing of gender norms, provide a cover for officer-perpetrated gender-based violence, and stifle economic development based on gender identity and expression. Please find a web story with additional information at Clinic Addresses Gender Impacts of Vagrancy Laws Before African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
December 2020, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued a positive decision, finding vagrancy laws incompatible with human rights standards in both their formulation and application. Specifically, these laws violate rights to non-discrimination and equality, dignity, liberty, a fair trial, freedom of movement, and protection of family, as well as state obligations towards women and children, requiring states to amend or repeal all vagrancy laws, by-laws, and regulations. Addressing violations against women, the Court referred to the Clinic’s submission and noted that “vagrancy laws perpetrate multiple violations of the rights of poor and marginalised women” and “effectively, punish the poor and underprivileged, including but not limited to the homeless, the disabled, the gender-nonconforming, sex workers, hawkers, street vendors, and individuals who otherwise use public spaces to earn a living.” Please also find a web story discussing this decision.
Realizing the Right to Housing
The Housing Rights Initiative works to realize the right to housing. Please find a factsheet on the international human rights to adequate housing in English and Spanish. Please also find factsheets focused on the equality and affordability components of the right to housing, as well as tenant rights and human rights obligations with regards to informal settlements.
Please also see the Art and the Right to Housing web page, which includes artwork illustrating the seven dimensions of the international human right to housing in connection with community experiences. Please feel free to download and use the artwork in advocacy to address homelessness and advance the right to housing.
Additionally, the Human Rights Clinic developed factsheets on the intersection of housing and homelessness with COVID-19, racial justice, and gender, including the experiences of women and the LGBTQ community. The Clinic further collaborated with the Lotus House on reports, highlighting “The Impact of Inadequate Caregiving Support on Women’s Housing Instability,” and “Gender Biases in Neighborhood Development," and service gaps impacting migrant women in the U.S.
In October 2023, the Clinic and the National Homelessness Law Center launched Human Right to Housing Report Card 2023: Grading the United States Response to Housing and Homelessness.
In October 2023, the Clinic submitted a report to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance on racial injustice in homelessness and housing, as well as the criminalization of mental health. In July 2022, the Clinic submitted a report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on racial injustice in homelessness and housing. The Clinic further engaged in advocacy with the Committee in Geneva and developed a factsheet in English, French, and Spanish based on the report. This resulted in Concluding Observations by the Committee, calling for the U.S. government to “abolish laws and policies that criminalize homelessness,” “affirmatively further fair housing and protection against discriminatory effects,” and “address the impact of exclusionary zoning and law use laws and practices that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities.” Please find a web story on this at Human Rights Clinic Advocates for the Right to Food, Health, and Housing at the U.N. and a blog at Addressing Homelessness through Housing Not Handcuffs. Please also find a segment on Hawaii TV where Human Rights Clinic Fellows Laura Leira and Taylor Moore discuss this experience.
In June 2020, the Clinic submitted a report to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing on informal settlements and homelessness in the context of COVID-19, and in May 2020, the Miami Herald published the Clinic's Op-Ed on homelessness and COVID-19.
In October 2019, the Clinic submitted a report on housing and homelessness in Miami-Dade County, Florida as part of the upcoming Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. by the U.N. Human Rights Council (please see an HRC factsheet on the Universal Periodic Review process). The report provides a human rights analysis of the criminalization of homelessness, access to health services, and access to housing, as well as provides recommendations to address these issues. Please find a web story on this advocacy at Clinic Submits Four Reports to the United Nations Alleging Violations in the U.S. The Clinic additionally developed a factsheet on Housing and Homelessness in Miami-Dade County.
Women’s Economic Empowerment
The Housing Rights Initiative works to advance women’s economic empowerment, including access to land, property, and housing.
The Human Rights Clinic has partnered with ISLA (Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa) on a Litigation Institute on Women’s Rights and Economic Justice in Africa. The Clinic developed materials for the Institute, including a facilitation guide on litigating sexual harassment and women’s rights in the informal economy and a report providing a human analysis of relevant international and regional standards. Please find a web story on this project and the clinic’s support for Pan-African litigation on women’s rights and economic justice.
The Human Rights Clinic has partnered with IWRAW-AP (International Women’s Rights-Action Watch), SALC (Southern African Litigation Centre), ISLA (Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa), and KELIN (Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS) to organize a judicial colloquium on women’s economic rights and access to justice in Eastern and Southern Africa. In preparation for the colloquium, the Clinic developed the following background documents: a White Paper on international and regional human rights standards and interpretations on women’s equality and economic rights, an Appendix with relevant constitutional provisions in Eastern and Southern Africa, a Case Compendium with summaries of important judicial decisions in Eastern and Southern Africa, and a Mapping of judicial officers and advocates in Eastern and Southern Africa who have been instrumental in advancing women’s economic rights and access to justice. Following the colloquium, the Clinic developed a factsheet, highlighting key insights.
The Clinic further advocates for housing protections for domestic violence survivors. In February 2014, the Clinic submitted comments to the Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development’s Proposed Policies for Section 8 Housing and the Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy, recommending expanded housing protections for domestic violence survivors and citing Miami-Dade County’s Resolution declaring freedom from domestic violence a fundamental human right (which the Clinic helped to draft in 2012). In April 2014, Clinic student, Charlotte Cassel, testified before the Miami-Dade Board of Commissioners, reiterating these recommendations.
The Clinic’s suggestions were incorporated into the sections on domestic violence in Miami-Dade County’s Public Housing and Community Development’s FY 2014-15 Public Housing Agency Plan, Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy, and Section 8 Administrative Plan. For instance, the Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy states on page 131: “Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Miami-Dade County Resolution…PHCD is required to implement internal policies to include provisions for protections of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sexual battery and stalking.”
This builds on work by Professor Tamar Ezer with the Open Society Foundations and Enda Santé advocating for women’s property rights in the context of HIV. Please see Securing Women’s Land and Property Rights: A Critical Step to Address HIV, Violence, and Food Security and Tools for Change: Applying UN Standards to Secure Women’s Housing, Land, and Property Rights in the Context of HIV, and please see a policy brief and training manual on women’s rights and HIV in Africa.
Convenings
- Strategy Meeting on Realizing the Rights to Food, Health and Housing in the U.S.: On November 12-13, 2020, the Human Rights Clinic and Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights hosted a National Strategy Meeting on Realizing the Rights to Food, Health and Housing in the U.S. that brought together advocates and scholars to share strategies and experiences for realizing the rights to housing, health, and food. The meeting provided participants with the opportunity to jointly strategize on cross-cutting issues. For the meeting, the HRC developed factsheets in English and Spanish on the international human rights to food, health, housing and water. For more information about this meeting, please see the meeting agenda and report, as well as a Human Rights at Home blog and web story.
- Petty Offenses Symposium: Challenging Criminalization of Poverty, Marginalization, and Gender Non-Conformity: In September 2019, the Human Rights Clinic hosted a global Symposium on Petty Offenses: Challenging Criminalization of Poverty, Marginalization, and Gender Non-Conformity in collaboration with the University of Miami (UM) Law Review, UM Race and Social Justice Law Review, UM School of Communication, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the Open Society Foundations’ Human Rights Initiative. The symposium provided an opportunity for the sharing of experiences and strategies in challenging petty offenses, exploring the use of litigation; human rights advocacy at international, regional, national, and local levels; and creative campaigning. The symposium drew on work from Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, India, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, and the United States and facilitated joint strategizing across movements, issues, and countries. It featured a photography exhibit. Please find a report on the symposium, including translations into French and Portuguese, a special issue of the UM Law Review, capturing lessons and reflections, and a blog on the symposium with the Human Rights at Home Blog series. Interviews from various speakers at the symposium further resulted in development of a video on “Why It’s Time to Repeal Petty Offense Laws." Please also find a web story outlining follow up scholarship and advocacy to the symposium.
- Communications Workshop: A communications workshop prior to the Petty Offenses Symposium, hosted with the University of Miami School of Communication, provided an opportunity for advocates to strengthen communication strategies and creative campaigning to complement legal advocacy. At the workshop, advocates developed a shared hashtag for work in this area: #PoorNotGuilty. This then led to development of the PoorNotGuilty website, providing resources for a global movement to decriminalize poverty and petty offenses.
Scholarship
Faculty and student scholarship addressing housing rights includes:
