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Homeless camps on public land will be felony in TN
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has declined to sign off on a proposal criminalizing camping by homeless people and others in parks and on other local public property. But the Repub…
wreg.com
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has declined to sign off on a proposal criminalizing camping by homeless people and others in parks and on other local public property.
But the Republican governor on Tuesday let the bill become law without his signature. It takes effect July 1.
The new law will add local public property to the existing felony penalties that are possible for camping on state property, as long as the place is not designated for people to camp there.
The felony is punishable by up to six years in prison. Felony convictions in Tennessee result in the revocation of an individual’s right to vote.
Brilliant, throw all of the homeless in prison, if they're private prisons, the institutions get paid by the state to keep those beds full. Business is good for the industry and no more unsightly ne'er do wells in public!When the bill moved through the legislature, Republican Sen. Paul Bailey acknowledged that “lots of churches” had testified against the bill.
“I don’t have the answer for homelessness,” Bailey said. “Those that oppose this legislation, they don’t have all the answers for homelessness. Those that support this legislation, they don’t have all of the answers for homelessness.”