17 ARRESTED AT DISTRICT BUILDING
By Amy Stevens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 15, 1989
; Page B04
Seventeen persons were arrested yesterday after they blocked traffic
briefly in front of the District Building while protesting a D.C. Council
proposal to amend a law that guarantees homeless people overnight shelter.
The protesters, carrying placards and chanting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the D.C.
Council has got to go," said they wanted to preserve the provisions of
Initiative 17, a five-year-old law that entitles any homeless people in the
District a place to sleep for the night if they request it, no questions
asked.
Four of those arrested were charged with unlawful entry after they occupied
the office of council member H.R. Crawford (D-Ward 7), a sponsor of the
proposed amendment. The others were cited for disorderly conduct.
The amendment, which was introduced by council member Nadine P. Winter
(D-Ward 6) in February, and is being evaluated by the Committee on Human
Services, would require a homeless person who wanted overnight shelter to
demonstrate residence in the District for six consecutive months prior to
application.
In addition, the legislation would establish a registration process, under
which homeless applicants would be asked to provide a detailed written
statement of their employment history, physical and mental health, and credit
background.
A spokesman for Winter said the bill is aimed in part at making the
financially strapped District less attractive to nonresident homeless people
who are lured here by the promise of shelter.
"We want to limit the population of homeless people coming in and take care
of the ones we have who are D.C. residents," spokesman David Watson said.
Harold Moss, a member of the Community for Creative Non-Violence, which
called the protest, said his group will continue to protest proposals to
change Initiative 17.
"As long as they keep trying to change the law, we will keep coming back,"
he said.
Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington
Post and may not include subsequent corrections.
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