4 January 26–February 1, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents son, was a passionate advocate for the cause. “Sadly enough,” she said, “I think we’re going to spend a lot of time in this session trying to officially roll back on reproductive rights.” Meanwhile, Austin was also bustling with the fervor of a new state legislative ses- sion, and Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas says he hit the ground running. “It’s good to get back into town and see those who are your friends and those you’ll be working with and even against at times, for the next 20 weeks,” he said. “I’ve been in of- fice for four years now, and I’m a lot more in- volved in things. There are certain issues that are a lot more active, like the grid. There’s a lot of work to be done before we’re really set in our direction on issues like that, though.” And if that weren’t enough for the law- makers in Austin to debate, Johnson pre- dicts that the fate of the newly announced $33 billion state budget surplus will define this session. “There are things that I’m hopeful about and things that really concern me,” he said. “I feel both hopeful and concerned about the massive amount of money we have that was not available in the past. My concerns revolve around a divisive social agenda, geared at a Republican primary, will suck all of the oxygen out of the room and prevent us from doing the hard work that’s necessary to wisely invest or otherwise appropriate the money to the benefit of the state.” Johnson is looking forward to seeing bills he’s authored get some attention. Among them are a bill that would legalize fentanyl test strips, which Johnson says can help save lives, and one designed to provide paid pa- rental leave to Texas teachers. Venton Jones, a freshman state represen- tative, made headlines as an openly gay can- didate who is also HIV-positive. He says he felt a great deal of pride in being sworn in to represent District 100, an area he says he was born and raised in. Like Johnson, Jones also views the bud- get surplus as something that can do a lot of good and be used for healthcare, increasing teacher pay, property tax relief for renters and owners, and repairing infrastructure. He said he will also “fight against legislation that will harm communities of color, LG- BTQ individuals and their familes, and the rights of all Texas to have equal access to the ballot box.” Another topic of interest is one he has seen affect his district firsthand. “One area that is particularly important in my district is affordable housing during this record time of inflation in the economy,” Jones said. “Rep. Yvonne Davis has refiled HB 1189, which caps appraisal values on homes in high-growth and development ar- eas to prevent the displacement of existing residents who often are lower-income and have been there for generations. This is a common-sense and bipartisan bill that I hope my colleagues can get behind and support.” With an understanding that what they do now can impact their constituents for years to come, Crockett, Johnson and Jones seem hopeful, even if as Democrats, many of their battles will likely be uphill ones in their re- spective, Republican-controlled bodies. Senator Johnson sums up the issues and questions facing lawmakers in 2023 by ad- dressing the future. “There’s this massive, massive question of how do we prepare Texas for the future?” he says. “What are we going to do now that people will thank us for in 30 years? That’s the defining question because we have the resources to make the investments at that scale and level of benefit to the state. Or, we can sit around and have petty arguments about social issues.” ▼ OPINION POOR CONSTITUTION THE BILL OF RIGHTS APPLIES EVEN IF YOU ARE BROKE. BY HANNAH LEBOVITS H annah Lebovits, an assistant profes- sor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, researches housing and homelessness through the lens of social equity and sustainability. She is one of the plaintiffs in the civil rights lawsuit against the city of Dallas challenging its new median ordinance. She submitted this op-ed to The Dallas Morning News in response to its Jan. 3 edito- rial in support of the ordinance, which threat- ens people who stand in roadway medians — namely, panhandlers — with $500 fines. The editorial argued that federal courts should re- consider rulings that panhandling was consti- tutionally protected speech and “should establish a better balance between free speech and the ability of cities to address public health, safety and quality of life consider- ations.” The News declined to run the op-ed as is, so she shared it with us. Chained to a bench, with numbers writ- ten across their arms, dozens of men waited to be charged with crimes they had not com- mitted. Emboldened by the relentless com- plaints of a few locals regarding the presence of visibly vulnerable men in the city, the Santa Ana, California, police swept 64 apparently homeless men from the streets and took them to be branded, bonded and billed for crimes, at random. Some were told they had littered, and others were fined for urinating in public or jaywalking. There was little proof that these men had actually committed these crimes, so they were issued general citations for behaviors they were considered likely to have engaged in. Pre- dictably, a lawsuit ensued. Less than six months later, the presiding judge held em- phatically: people without shelter cannot be stripped of their rights and treated as second class citizens The Santa Ana roundup occurred in Au- gust 1990, but it could just as easily have been 1940s Germany. As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I’m grateful every day that I live in a country where the Bill of Rights protects me from government intru- sion and oppression. But the homeless resi- dents of the city of Dallas — many of whom grew up in the region, attended local schools and worked for several years in local busi- nesses — are not afforded these same rights, under the guise of “safety concerns.” I’m very familiar with these sorts of concerns. They’re the same ones that prompted thou- sands of Europeans and even local Ameri- cans to believe that people of my faith group needed to be expelled and exterminated. That is why, as a Jewish woman, an Amer- ican, a Dallas homeowner and taxpayer, and a researcher who studies the experiences of those who are homeless, I, along with three other plaintiffs and the Texas Civil Rights Project, sued the city over its latest attempt to strip the rights of poor people. Any attempt to limit the First Amend- ment rights of any American without proof that these behaviors are an actual threat to public safety must be understood for what it really is: an effort to marginalize and crimi- nalize those who are socially constructed as deviant, harmful and unworthy. And just like the harmful behaviors of other states, at other points in time, I have heard the same kind of excuses again. “Those people threaten public order.” “Those people are more likely to engage in criminal behaviors.” “Those people threaten our youth, our culture, our way of life.” The reality, though, is that painting poor people asking for help as “threats” to public safety just gives governments excuses to vio- late their rights and push them further to the margins. Suddenly, behaviors that are not problematic in the slightest — such as quietly standing on a median with a sign — feel deeply threatening, and our response to those who engage in these activities is to as- sume they are criminals. But they aren’t. They’re just poor people asking kind strang- ers if they might be willing to help. I believe that my fellow Dallas residents are kindhearted individuals who are deeply compassionate beings. Many Dallas resi- dents likely agree that the city, along with its nonprofit and intergovernmental partners, should take a more proactive approach to combating the root causes of homelessness. And, if the charitable giving trends, fre- quency of volunteering and calls for dona- tions in the city are any indication, there are thousands of individuals in Dallas who are more than willing to assist those in need. But, regardless of what residents do to as- sist their neighbors, it is not up to the city — or the vocal residents who feel uncomfortable at the sight of someone who is socially vulnera- ble — to determine who is and is not protected by the First Amendment. When we let our city attack the rights of our most vulnerable resi- dents, we weaken the First Amendment for all. That is why we must call on the city to end this cruel ordinance and invest in real solutions to the root causes of economic vulnerability and homelessness. ▼ POLICE GREEN CARD AND BADGE DALLAS LAWMAKER FILES BILL ALLOWING PERMANENT U.S. RESI- DENTS TO BECOME COPS IN TEXAS. BY JACOB VAUGHN S tate Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas County Democrat, filed a bill last week to allow permanent U.S. resi- dents to become peace officers in Texas. Cur- rent state law requires peace officers to be U.S. citizens. This excludes noncitizens who are permanent residents, even though these individuals can legally serve in the military. If noncitizens can serve in the military, Johnson said, they should be able to serve as peace officers in law enforcement agencies across the state. His Senate Bill 376 would allow just that. Many police departments throughout the country are struggling with officer short- ages, and the Dallas Police Department hasn’t been spared. Allowing permanent U.S. residents to serve as police officers could give the hiring pool a much-needed boost, Johnson said. “Whether it’s sheriffs or members of the city police force or other forms of peace offi- cer, it’s going to greatly expand the pool from which law enforcement can draw to boost its ranks,” Johnson said. “Presently, police de- partments in particular are having a great deal of difficulty staffing at the levels that they need to to provide the level of safety that people want. In fact, they need more people to provide safety for their own officers. So, it’s a pro-law enforcement, pro-safety law.” There have been similar efforts in the past, but none have come to fruition in Texas. In 2018 for example, Rep. Hubert Vo, a Harris County Democrat, filed House Bill 1091, which would have allowed permanent Unfair Park from p3 Hannly Sam via Flickr The disputed city ordinance makes it a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 to stand on a Dallas median less than 6 feet wide.
