The ongoing conversation over the role of enforcement in creating safe streets and cities has raised a number of important points, both on streets.mn and elsewhere. I believe camera enforcement is a key component in creating safe streets and can be done without sacrificing our commitments to equity, privacy, and safety through better design. To […]
Any tenant who has had a landlord illegally withhold their security deposit or whose landlord has refused to make required repairs can tell you there is a lot more to the legal system than what is written in the state statutes or city ordinances. A law may say you have certain rights. But it’s another […]
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that you have a right to an attorney in criminal prosecutions. The Supreme Court has interpreted that right, most famously in Gideon vs. Wainwright, to include an attorney provided by the government if you cannot afford one. Hopefully, the reason behind this is obvious: your liberty […]
I believe housing is a human right, and that we are facing a housing crisis that will impoverish a generation if we do not act quickly and aggressively. I would support nearly any policy that would increase access to affordable housing, reduce the number of rent-burdened households, and reduce or eliminate displacement. But I […]
I know I can’t be the only one who has wondered, while waiting through a full light cycle for a walk signal only to see that my button pressing was in vain, what it would be like to have the power of Tsar Peter the Great to create through imperial decree a city tailored to […]
One of the more popular ways for progressive candidates to excite a crowd or for pro-housing advocates to frame their arguments is to assert “Housing is a human right.” We should stop saying this, and call out candidates when they say it. It’s a lie. Housing isn’t a human right—at least not in practice. I […]