San Francisco Judges Dismiss 66,000 Arrest Warrants Against The Citys HomelessBy Whitney Webb The United States, despite often advertising itself as the worlds most developed nation, has a major problem with homelessness, with approximately 3.5 million currently living with no place to call home. Even though vacant houses outnumber the nations homeless by more than five to one, most of them end up sleeping in public places or out in the street. In cities around the country, the homeless are frequently criminalized as are those who offer them food and other forms of human kindness. Despite the widespread maltreatment of the homeless, judges in San Francisco have been dismissing thousands upon thousands of arrest warrants targeting the homeless because it was the right thing to do. Many of these arrest warrants were for so-called quality of life crimes, which include sleeping on sidewalks or public places, urinating in public, and public drunkenness. The vast majority of these infractions are punishable only by fines, which the homeless obviously cannot afford. In years prior, those who failed to show up in court or were unable to pay the fines were issued arrest warrants carrying a sentence of five days in jail or longer depending on the fines amount. Just within the past year, this inhuman precedent changed for the better when San Francisco Superior Court judges stopped issuing arrest warrants for these quality of life crimes. Not only that, but the judges also threw out over 66,000 arrest warrants that had been issued since January 2011. Though the San Franciscos police union and some private citizens strongly protested and criticized the decision, the citys chief judge, John Stewart, defended the judges actions to the press this past week. Stewart said, youre putting somebody in jail because theyre poor and cant pay a fine. We got a lot of criticism, but we thought it was the right thing to do. San Francisco has a major problem with homelessness, with approximately 7,000 people living on the street. A significant part of this high homeless population has been due to the explosion of gentrification that has forced out low-income residents and small businesses across the city. Gentrification, defined as the process by which an influx of more affluent residents results in increased property values and the displacement of lower-income families, became a major issue in San Francisco around the same time that many tech companies began choosing to locate their businesses in the city over nearby Silicon Valley. The influx of wealthy tech employees has forced out thousands of families that have lived in San Francisco for generations, all because they can no longer pay the rent. Those San Francisco residents who couldnt afford to leave became homeless. San Francisco now has the most expensive rent in the entire country as the average one-bedroom apartment now costs $3,530 a month. Though the citys judges have shown great compassion in dismissing the cases against the citys homeless, it will take much more for the problem of the San Franciscos epidemic of homelessness to disappear. What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news! This article (San Francisco Judges Dismiss 66,000 Arrest Warrants Against the Citys Homeless) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and Trueselfnews.com Way to go, John Stewart and fellow judges of San Francisco!!! John Stewart, an aging Baby Boomer with Soul, who stayed on rather than retire is offering San Francisco a Conscience! You are the Best, John! This kindness and intelligence is blessing your Karma. We need good Role Models to guide whats left of the American Culture! Now, lets find a way to house the homeless in some of those vacant and empty houses. For the Record, many homeless go to San Francisco because they can find food, meals and help. When the homeless phenomenon began again in the 1970s, the studies showed that 75% or more of the homeless had lost their way and assets due to drug and alcohol addiction. Once down and out, its nearly impossible for homeless folks to find any employment, assuming there are any jobs for anyone really homeless. It is purely an economic decision when read closely. They wont get the fines and imprisonment would cost the government. Its a lose-lose situation making the decision to vacate the orders a no-brainer I agree. I dont believe this has anything to do with our court system having a heart. Its about money. I spent some time in jail about 12 years ago. I was in the same pod as a homeless guy and he was happy to be in jail. He thought it was great. He had a warm bed and two meals a day. He was also so crazy he didnt even know want he was in jail for or how long he had been there. The rest of us normal people couldnt wait to get out of there. No one ever mentions about how all the illegal immigrants and refugees are bumping these people out of affordable housing. They cant get any money out of the homelessotherwise they would not let them go. A lot of money is being made off fines. 