Well This is a Surprise...

          OK, I know I can be a bit of a pessimist sometimes, but I think a lot of people were surprised by the story that the Eureka City Hall was choosing to allow a homeless encampment to continue to set up each night (and disband each day) in the city hall parking lot, (click this link for the full story per Eureka-Times Standard). What made me happiest is that it's not as if those campers just found a loophole, or put law enforcement in a position where they could not removed them easily, but rather the city has laws in place that state people can not sleep in public places and are choosing not to enforce them since, they say, the people are causing no problems. Now, does this undue the danger of laws like this? No. I, for one, think there are all sorts of laws that primarily target homeless people, including not only laws against sleeping in public places, but even leash laws, (which would not be enforced in suburbia unless your dog attacked someone), as well as the ease with which businesses may discriminate against someone for their perceived socio-economic status, often without reproach. However, I do believe that when a law is willfully ignored, soon it can be purposefully ignored, and then, hopefully, dismantled. But first, baby steps.