The so-called, "Homeless" take offense at the bullshit charges, and the easily hosed off, green, plastic seats; not to mention public defenders who fail to provide an adequate defense for even the most flimsy of allegations. If I were to ever be ordered to appear in that or any other kangaroo court of Multnomah County, I wouldn't waste my time or spend one dime on a decent lawyer. I'd just say fuck it, too. Just because people are on the street, doesn't mean they are stupid. Even if you get a warrant out for you, you'll only go to court, every other time you get arrested. That's better than going to court every single time, and having the judge get sick of seeing you so often any sooner than necessary.

^Im starting to wish your wife had been more successful.

Rant of the year! Thank you for that.

What's with the plastic seats? Not all homeless people invariably piss their pants. Some of us just sleep on dog shit in the park. If you don't want dirty people messing up the furniture, then don't be dragging them into court over such frivolous charges. If the public restrooms in the parks were open more often and had showers, it might enable people to better stay clean, and not get cited for using a public restroom after hours. Also, how about providing a nice, clean suit to wear when going to court, instead of that orange prison garb that the absconders are forced to wear? A jury sees a defendant dressed like that and there is no fair trial at all.

I actually had reason to go check this out once. It was packed when I was there and almost everyone who was called was around. As I watched, I thought it was a great program. Sure, not a lot of people took the rehab option but several did end up doing community service for minor offenses and they got through their docket very quickly. Most ended up walking out without a sentence. The best thing was the judge really seemed to give a fuck about what was happening. He'd look concerned or ask about treatment options as his first, second and third resort. Also, someone gave me a candy cane. Amusingly enough the reason I was there was to see what someone who'd become a real dangerous nuisance ended up with. He was sent immediately to jail because he had a bench warrant. We haven't seen him since. He was the only one picked up.

OoooO0Oooowwww, what fun!

This was a stupid idea to begin with.

Want to know why homeless people don't want the option of being connected to social services? Because even people down on their luck or enmired in a miserable addiction have enough dignity not to want to become another on of TPI's or Central City's — or any of the other turnstile agency's — trained seals, barking for local donors and government funding to the tune of "clean and sober". What happens to these guys when they sign up to be an obedient poster child for "social progress" and "compassion"? A few months to a year or two later they're back underneath the Hawthorne Bridge, unemployed, still troubled by inner demons, and wondering why in hell they decided to become clean and sober.

Besides, there's the community court, and I for one never gave a damn about twenty hours of picking up cigarette butts.

If the Court would offer a free treatment program which included Medical Marijuana instead of the Fluoride based uptake inhibitors that the Court directs for the defendants to ingest as prescribed by the Court designated shrinks, then you might draw a crowd.