Letter: State violated homeless’ rights

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2005 | 9:06 a.m.

This is in response to the Sun's Jan. 19 story headlined, "About 125 homeless displaced." The story recounted the experience of homeless people who had been camped out under a bridge at Wilson Avenue and F Street. Returning to their camp on Jan. 18, the people found that the area had been cleaned and that all of their possessions had been removed. I talked with the Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman and verified the cleanup was conducted by that agency, and that the possessions had been dumped.

Imagine that you are a homeless person whose possessions were trashed by a state agency. This means that your identification is gone and you will not be able to access services. You may not even be able to replace most of your identification. Family mementos that you can't replace are lost, too. A state agency has violated your constitutional rights and you have no recourse except the courts, which you can't afford.

You may ask: Why not call the governor's office, the attorney general's office or NDOT to request an investigation? I did, but with little success. I wish others would do the same. If enough citizens let state government know that they are concerned and do not understand how this irresponsible action will help the homeless, this type of action will never occur again.

The U.S. Constitution protects minority rights, as we've been told, so why aren't the homeless protected? They are only half of 1 percent of the population and include all races and nationalities.

FRANK PERNA