Criminalizing Squatting (H 5919)

We strongly opposed legislation which would make it a crime punishable by a year in prison for a person to "occupy a dwelling unit or other structure" without permission. This criminalization is cruel and seeks to address this state's homelessness crisis with punishment rather than with a compassionate recognition of the plight that hundreds of unhoused Rhode Islanders face. Rhode Island's serious homelessness crisis cannot be solved by punishing the victims of that crisis.