have used in Guantanamo was to reverse the sleeping hours," Glock-Grueneich said. "There is a debate about whether this is torture or not. You find that when the sleeping hours are involuntarily reversed, you cannot function to the same degree."
He suggested that we only have two choices in a city that is not ready to address the sleeping ban: "Get enlightened leadership from places like the unions. Or you use coercion. Get lawyers and file a civil rights lawsuit."
He asserted that the sleeping ban is unconstitutional when applied to poor people who have no place else to sleep because shelters are full. "That's why we have Eichorn which provides for the defense of necessity. But there's a catch. The defense of necessity requires the burden of proof to be on the defendant to prove their case. A defendant has to hire an attorney. So a defendant has to come up with thousands of dollars for an attorney when they didn't have the $50 for a motel room."
The SEIU conferred in closed session. John Gilbert reported the results. "We decided to not vote on it. The issue was not tabled. It was removed from consideration."
He said that many anticipated a bitter fight if the SEIU went forward. Many asked why this issue should be voted on right now. Gilbert left one note of hope, "Th& door is not closed to a more concrete proposal," he said.
Bob Patton described his own bottom line. "I keep coming back to — and I can hardly believe I am saying it — there is a law against sleeping in Santa Cruz. There is a law that makes sleeping illegal. There is a law that makes covering up against the elements at night illegal.
"This smacks of the old South, racism and a community in denial about the human rights violations going on to a certain class of people. And the destruction that these laws cause, not just to these individuals, but to our civil society itself. We are a community with responsibilities. Like it or not, we are responsible for the damage we are doing to this class of people. These laws are not the answer."
The Human Rights Organization meets weekly at 115 Coral St. in Santa Cruz inside the Homeless Services Center dining room from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. All are welcome.

August 2005