My Expository Essay on Homelessness (Please Read)
Its too big to upload as an attachment so i copy-pasted it straight from Word. It hasn't been graded yet, but there's some pretty crazy shit i found in my research in this and i wanted to get it out there, so please discuss. Before anyone asks; yes... my name is Welby.
Welby Pena #0217791
September 22, 2013
ENC101 Philip Cunill
A Lesser Discussed Cause of Homelessness
There are an estimated one thousand homeless in Miami-Dade County. However, it is important to note that not all homeless people are “crack-heads” and “burn-outs” as some so ignorantly put it. To become homeless, one does not even need to be a victim of some great misfortune, such as a natural disaster, either. While it may be true that unemployment is on the rise, plenty of taxpaying, hard working citizens employed full time are living on the streets, financially deprived, because wages are too low to support themselves independently.
Florida’s Minimum Wage is set at $7.79 an hour. A full-time work week is typically defined at 40 hours a week before being paid for Overtime at one and one-half the workers regular rate of pay. If a worker earned 40 hours of Minimum Wage every week, for all 52 weeks of the year, with no vacation, that worker would have earned a total of $16,203.20 by the end of the year before taxes. For illustrative purposes we will call this fictional worker “Mary”.
In Miami-Dade County, the average rent for a studio apartment as of July 1, 2013 is $1,491 a month. “Mary” will rent a studio apt at this price. “Mary” isn’t required to pay taxes. She receives free utilities, healthcare, food, transportation, clothing, and anything else she may need, other than her rent. If the only thing “Mary” pays is her $1,491 monthly rent, she will be $1,688.80 in debt by the end of the year at her pay rate, and will most likely be unable to renew her lease. To qualify for government assistance in Miami-Dade County, the annual income limit is set strictly at $13,750; “Mary” does not qualify. For other full-time Minimum Wage workers who must pay taxes, utilities, healthcare, food, transportation, and clothing, and other expenses, life is seemingly impossible; often resulting in homelessness.
Amendments 5, 8, 9, 13 and 14 of the United States Constitution are being violated in the case of the independent, full time, Minimum wage, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks of the year worker. The inability to support oneself in a safe dwelling with all things necessary for life is interpreted as being “deprived of Life, Liberty, and Property without due process of law” in violation of Amendments five and eight. Furthermore, Amendment nine is being violated by disparaging the basic human rights not listed in the Constitution, of food, health, hygiene, clothing, and shelter for the full-time Minimum Wage worker. The necessity to work Overtime every single week just for the ability to cover basic necessities is an involuntary one, and is interpreted as a violation of Amendment 13, as it states “Neither slavery nor involuntary service, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the united states, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The enforcement of a Minimum Wage that does not cover basic living expenses for a Minimum Wage full-time worker, nor allow for basic privileges such as the saving of money, affording any clothing, purchasing insurance, or enjoy common recreational activities is interpreted as a violation of Amendment 14 where it states “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States”. But can the deprivation of an independent Minimum Wage full-time worker also be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” under Amendment 8 of the United States Constitution?
In the Supreme Court case of Furman v. Georgia, Mr. Justice Brennan concurred that there are four principles by which one would use to determine whether a punishment is “cruel and unusual”. The first principle is quoted as “…the essential predicate for the application of the others, is that a punishment must not, by its severity, be degrading to human dignity.” – Clearly, any homeless person relegated to cooking their food over an open fire in the park, sleeping on the sidewalk, having to “go” outside, and anything that may take place as a result of homelessness is degrading to human dignity. The second principle “derives from the notion that the State does not respect human dignity when, without reason, it inflicts upon some people a severe punishment that it does not inflict upon others”; then surely the case of Minimum Wage for select workers and the inability to support oneself resulting in homelessness would qualify as a cruel and unusual punishment on this second principle alone. “A third principle inherent in the Clause is that a severe punishment must not be unacceptable to contemporary society”. Homelessness and the inability to support oneself independently is something that has never been accepted in society and most likely never will. The final principle is the most important, stating that a punishment must not be excessive. Justice Brennan defines a punishment as being excessive “if it is unnecessary”, “nothing more than the pointless infliction of suffering”, and if “there was no reason whatever for doing so”. There is no crime in being a full-time taxpaying worker, hence unnecessary and excessive. Thus forth, the unnecessary punishment of financial impairment at the price of 40 or more labor hours a week and the oppression of inescapable debt, and other handicaps caused by such financial impairment is cruel and unusual punishment under Amendment 8 of the United States Constitution as defined by Supreme Court Justice Brennan in the case of Furman v. Georgia, and therefore illegal!
It has been said that Miami-Dade County has been praised as having one of the best systems in the country for addressing the problem of homelessness, I disagree. The homeless population has gone down to 1/8th of what it had been since the foundation of the Homeless Trust in 1993, but it is simply not enough. In the past three years the homeless population has been rising again. As more and more people return to homelessness after two decades of a seemingly effective system of combating homelessness, maybe it’s time to reevaluate. Using a housing plan composed of three phases –emergency, transitional, and permanent – along with supportive services and job placement, perhaps it isn’t the approach of the Homeless Trust that’s ineffective, but our Minimum Wage that is ineffective at protecting the full-time workers right to be a productive member of society instead of banishing them to live on the streets while other members of society ignorantly label them as “trash” or “druggies”.
Works Cited:
• http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.htm
• http://www.zillow.com/local-info/FL-...D2964%26el%3D0
• http://www.miamidade.gov/housing/income-limits.asp
• http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/cha...ranscript.html
• http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/cha...nts_11-27.html
• http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/htm..._0238_ZC1.html
• http://www.miamidade.gov/homeless/accomplishments.asp
Welby Pena #0217791
September 22, 2013
ENC101 Philip Cunill
A Lesser Discussed Cause of Homelessness
There are an estimated one thousand homeless in Miami-Dade County. However, it is important to note that not all homeless people are “crack-heads” and “burn-outs” as some so ignorantly put it. To become homeless, one does not even need to be a victim of some great misfortune, such as a natural disaster, either. While it may be true that unemployment is on the rise, plenty of taxpaying, hard working citizens employed full time are living on the streets, financially deprived, because wages are too low to support themselves independently.
Florida’s Minimum Wage is set at $7.79 an hour. A full-time work week is typically defined at 40 hours a week before being paid for Overtime at one and one-half the workers regular rate of pay. If a worker earned 40 hours of Minimum Wage every week, for all 52 weeks of the year, with no vacation, that worker would have earned a total of $16,203.20 by the end of the year before taxes. For illustrative purposes we will call this fictional worker “Mary”.
In Miami-Dade County, the average rent for a studio apartment as of July 1, 2013 is $1,491 a month. “Mary” will rent a studio apt at this price. “Mary” isn’t required to pay taxes. She receives free utilities, healthcare, food, transportation, clothing, and anything else she may need, other than her rent. If the only thing “Mary” pays is her $1,491 monthly rent, she will be $1,688.80 in debt by the end of the year at her pay rate, and will most likely be unable to renew her lease. To qualify for government assistance in Miami-Dade County, the annual income limit is set strictly at $13,750; “Mary” does not qualify. For other full-time Minimum Wage workers who must pay taxes, utilities, healthcare, food, transportation, and clothing, and other expenses, life is seemingly impossible; often resulting in homelessness.
Amendments 5, 8, 9, 13 and 14 of the United States Constitution are being violated in the case of the independent, full time, Minimum wage, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks of the year worker. The inability to support oneself in a safe dwelling with all things necessary for life is interpreted as being “deprived of Life, Liberty, and Property without due process of law” in violation of Amendments five and eight. Furthermore, Amendment nine is being violated by disparaging the basic human rights not listed in the Constitution, of food, health, hygiene, clothing, and shelter for the full-time Minimum Wage worker. The necessity to work Overtime every single week just for the ability to cover basic necessities is an involuntary one, and is interpreted as a violation of Amendment 13, as it states “Neither slavery nor involuntary service, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the united states, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The enforcement of a Minimum Wage that does not cover basic living expenses for a Minimum Wage full-time worker, nor allow for basic privileges such as the saving of money, affording any clothing, purchasing insurance, or enjoy common recreational activities is interpreted as a violation of Amendment 14 where it states “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States”. But can the deprivation of an independent Minimum Wage full-time worker also be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” under Amendment 8 of the United States Constitution?
In the Supreme Court case of Furman v. Georgia, Mr. Justice Brennan concurred that there are four principles by which one would use to determine whether a punishment is “cruel and unusual”. The first principle is quoted as “…the essential predicate for the application of the others, is that a punishment must not, by its severity, be degrading to human dignity.” – Clearly, any homeless person relegated to cooking their food over an open fire in the park, sleeping on the sidewalk, having to “go” outside, and anything that may take place as a result of homelessness is degrading to human dignity. The second principle “derives from the notion that the State does not respect human dignity when, without reason, it inflicts upon some people a severe punishment that it does not inflict upon others”; then surely the case of Minimum Wage for select workers and the inability to support oneself resulting in homelessness would qualify as a cruel and unusual punishment on this second principle alone. “A third principle inherent in the Clause is that a severe punishment must not be unacceptable to contemporary society”. Homelessness and the inability to support oneself independently is something that has never been accepted in society and most likely never will. The final principle is the most important, stating that a punishment must not be excessive. Justice Brennan defines a punishment as being excessive “if it is unnecessary”, “nothing more than the pointless infliction of suffering”, and if “there was no reason whatever for doing so”. There is no crime in being a full-time taxpaying worker, hence unnecessary and excessive. Thus forth, the unnecessary punishment of financial impairment at the price of 40 or more labor hours a week and the oppression of inescapable debt, and other handicaps caused by such financial impairment is cruel and unusual punishment under Amendment 8 of the United States Constitution as defined by Supreme Court Justice Brennan in the case of Furman v. Georgia, and therefore illegal!
It has been said that Miami-Dade County has been praised as having one of the best systems in the country for addressing the problem of homelessness, I disagree. The homeless population has gone down to 1/8th of what it had been since the foundation of the Homeless Trust in 1993, but it is simply not enough. In the past three years the homeless population has been rising again. As more and more people return to homelessness after two decades of a seemingly effective system of combating homelessness, maybe it’s time to reevaluate. Using a housing plan composed of three phases –emergency, transitional, and permanent – along with supportive services and job placement, perhaps it isn’t the approach of the Homeless Trust that’s ineffective, but our Minimum Wage that is ineffective at protecting the full-time workers right to be a productive member of society instead of banishing them to live on the streets while other members of society ignorantly label them as “trash” or “druggies”.
Works Cited:
• http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.htm
• http://www.zillow.com/local-info/FL-...D2964%26el%3D0
• http://www.miamidade.gov/housing/income-limits.asp
• http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/cha...ranscript.html
• http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/cha...nts_11-27.html
• http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/htm..._0238_ZC1.html
• http://www.miamidade.gov/homeless/accomplishments.asp
and a professor at another college was also interested.
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