Bates Recital Hall
No Sit/No Lie? No Thanks!
RECEIVED Tue., May 1, 2018
Dear Editor,
I am expressing some feedback on your "Beside the Point: Get Off Your Butt" article [News, April 20]. While I do like giving some examples of procedures that are currently in place against the homeless population, I would have included the names of policies that you are describing before or after. Later in the article, however, No Sit/No Lie is used but in a way that is not explaining what the policy enacts. Give the name of the policy, then explain.
Thank you for mentioning some of the hardships of homelessness. It is unfortunate that policies like No Sit/No Lie continue the cycle of homelessness. How could someone that is homeless be able to pay for tickets? In Austin, a standard ticket for No Sit/No Lie is $160, increases if they cannot pay, and potentially [leads to them being] arrested. I would much rather have my tax dollars help them get into care or housing.
I am expressing some feedback on your "Beside the Point: Get Off Your Butt" article [News, April 20]. While I do like giving some examples of procedures that are currently in place against the homeless population, I would have included the names of policies that you are describing before or after. Later in the article, however, No Sit/No Lie is used but in a way that is not explaining what the policy enacts. Give the name of the policy, then explain.
Thank you for mentioning some of the hardships of homelessness. It is unfortunate that policies like No Sit/No Lie continue the cycle of homelessness. How could someone that is homeless be able to pay for tickets? In Austin, a standard ticket for No Sit/No Lie is $160, increases if they cannot pay, and potentially [leads to them being] arrested. I would much rather have my tax dollars help them get into care or housing.
Venenzia Johnson
Staff writer Nina Hernandez responds: The story's second paragraph identifies bans on "panhandling, camping, and sitting or lying down in parts of Downtown."
