Homeless camps on public land risk felony in Tennessee bill

Tennessee lawmakers voted to advance a bill that would threaten felony penalties against homeless people living on local public property.

Opponents have said the legislation does nothing to help reduce homelessness, while potentially making it harder for homeless people to rise out of extreme poverty if they have a felony on their records.

"When we allow our legislators to turn those who are society’s most beaten down into criminals, we reject the very thing that gives us the right to call ourselves civilized: our capacity for compassion, for justice rooted in love for others rather than hate," Father Charles Strobel, founding director of homeless aid organization Room In The Inn, wrote in a newspaper guest column this week.