No sleeping policy

Some shopping malls(...)( and other buildings open to the public - for example, university buildings (especially ones that are at least partly funded by taxes) - also subway stations (and no, safe public transit does NOT require kicking out sleeping homeless people) )have a no-sleeping policy, which harms homeless people and others.

Problem

• Kicking out homeless people who have nowhere else to sleep
• Affects more than just homeless people; students also need a nap sometimes for example

Collective actions to take ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿

• Mass protest by sleeping (or pretending to sleep) in a shopping mall food court
• Enact a right-to-sleep law

Root causes

A building owner typically believes that a no-sleeping policy is necessary - that without it, all the homeless people might flock to their building. (...)( From a "game theory" perspective, this situation is similar to the problem of customer-only bathrooms in some cities. Both are a hard enough "prisoner's dilemma" to deter even the most altruistic business owners. )

• Note that this wouldn't happen if all the malls allowed sleeping (i.e. share the load)
  • Hence advocating for a law

More factors

• Profit motive (shopping malls don't want sleeping homeless people to "taint" their image or "scare away customers")
• Bigotry and bias against homeless people, lack of compassion or understanding of their situation
• Shortage of homeless shelters

FAQ

"Aren't homeless people just sleeping because they're on drugs?"

No. Every human needs sleep. If you didn't have a home, you'd need to sleep somewhere too, no matter how "clean & sober" you might be.

"But then all the homeless people are gonna do drugs?"

No. They can still be kicked out for doing drugs. Just not be kicked out for sleeping.

"Doesn't the mall have the right to kick out whoever they want?"

Sure, but why does that matter more than the basic human right to being able to sleep? Malls take up space that could otherwise be public. Therefore they have a shared responsibility for public good.

"But I don't want to go to the mall and see lots of homeless people?"

Then let's provide more other places for homeless people to sleep.

See also

• Increase housing supply
• Provide housing for homeless people