Karl Lydersen

In the viewpoint that follows, Karl Lydersen condemns local governments’ attempts to “clean up” the homeless by arresting them for infractions such as sleeping on the streets, urinating in public, and possessing open containers of alcohol. Lydersen, a reporter at the Washington Post Chicago Bureau and associate editor of the newspaper Streetwise, holds that such arrests violate the civil rights of the homeless and do nothing to curb the problem of homelessness. If society truly wants to help the homeless, Lydersen contends, it will provide them with emergency shelter, drug treatment, and job counseling programs.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the author, when the homeless access social service organizations, what is the result?
2. List three examples of local governments’ attempts to criminalize the homeless, as stated...