But in November 2006, three homeless men were arrested and charged with "knowingly establishing temporary, portable, or open sleeping quarters within five hundred feet of a deposit of urine or feces that was not in an appropriate sanitary facility". Never mind that the act was no longer a punishable offense under law.
David Hicks, one of the men arrested, summed up my main question from the original story -- how do you know if there's poop in a five hundred meter radius? "I didn't even know it was there. Was I supposed to go around searching for it?" Indeed. Is it possible for anyone, homeless or not, to lay down on the grass with, say, a sack lunch and a book in ANY public park and NOT be within five hundred meters of urine and/or feces? The ACLU, Mr. Hicks, the two other defendants, and their attorney Brent Bryson believe that it isn't possible, and that these three men were singled out because they are homeless.
Because the law never actually went into effect, the city was found at fault, and the men were awarded $45,000 to share in compensation for their experience [3]. In the spirit of assisting three downcast fellow humans to get back on their feet, Bryson magnanimously reduced his fee to a mere 33%, or $15,000; each of the three exonerated men received a check for $10,000. That's quite a windfall for a homeless guy; hopefully they'll use it to get a step up in the world.
As for the City of Las Vegas, $45,000 was an expensive lesson in proofreading stuff before it goes to press.