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- <text id=91TT1372>
- <title>
- June 24, 1991: American Notes:The Homeless
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991
- June 24, 1991 Thelma & Louise
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 25
- American Notes
- THE HOMELESS
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind
- </hdr><body>
- <p> Atlanta is promoting itself as the vanguard of the New South
- and the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics. One flaw in its
- progressive image, however, is the thousands of homeless beggars
- in its downtown area. Last week Mayor Maynard Jackson proposed
- an ordinance to ban aggressive panhandling, sleeping in vacant
- buildings and hanging out in parking lots. Violators could get
- 60 days in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both.
- </p>
- <p> Critics blasted the measure as an attempt to "sanitize"
- Atlanta's downtown for the benefit of business and in
- anticipation of the Olympics. "We believe this law will be
- selectively enforced to restrict certain people's movements, and
- we will fight it," said Anita Beaty, co-director of the Task
- Force for the Homeless. But police chief Eldrin Bell argued that
- the ordinance would, in fact, protect the homeless from
- criminals.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-