Not Even Medieval Feudalism Was This Cruel

Nine hundred years ago in Europe, lepers were allowed to beg on the streets, as long as they rang a bell to advertise their malady.

No such compassion today in South Carolina.

Think Progress:

Police officers will now be assigned to patrol the city center and keep homeless people out. They will also be instructed to strictly enforce the city’s “quality of life” laws, including bans on loitering, public urination, and other violations. And just to ensure that no one slips through, the city will set up a hotline so local businesses and residents can report the presence of a homeless person to police.

In order to accommodate all the homeless people who will now be banned from downtown, the city will partner with a local charity to keep an emergency shelter on the outskirts of town open 24 hours a day.

However, it’s unlikely the shelter, which can handle 240 guests, will be enough to handle the local homeless population, which numbers more than six times the available beds.

Homeless people can stay at the shelter, but they’re not permitted to walk off the premises. In fact, Columbia will even post a police officer on the road leading to the shelter to ensure that homeless people don’t walk towards downtown. If they want to leave, they need to set up an appointment and be shuttled by a van.

In other words, the 1,518 homeless people in the Columbia-area now have a choice: get arrested downtown or be confined to a far-away shelter that you can’t readily leave. Jail or pseudo-jail.

Not "pseudo-jail." Kidnapping and imprisonment, that's what that is.

And all you Columbia residents who still have a home - for the moment - forget a quick response to your 911 calls.  All your police officers are rounding up poor people and guarding your city boundaries against poverty cooties.