QCity Metro17%
Clergy group says NC bill would criminalize homelessness 10%
By Taylor Jennings-Brown26%
7/24/2026, 3:37:25 AM
Keywords: Homelessness, North Carolina, House Bill 437, Criminalization, Clergy, Veto, Public Camping, Drug Offenses, Charlotte
BS Summary: This article contains 12 faulty reasoning types, including Slippery Slope, Hasty Generalization, and Appeal to Emotion, with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 12.4% saturation with 100 hits. Analysis detected 385 faulty-reasoning hits from 809 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 22% and a BS Rank of 10% (22,953 of 25,293 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 90.70% of the article peer group.
A group of faith leaders in Charlotte is urging state lawmakers to uphold Gov.
Josh Stein's veto of a bill that would ban unauthorized camping on public property and create new felonies for drug offenses near homeless shelters.
At a press conference on Thursday at Crisis Assistance Ministry, the clergy said House Bill 437 would criminalize homelessness rather than address its causes.
Stein vetoed the bill on July 8, calling it a "significant" and "unfunded" mandate on local governments, but House Republicans have said they intend to bring the bill to a veto override vote.
The Rev.
Thomas Farrell Jr., pastor of Reeder Memorial Baptist Church, said the bill "places new burdens on organizations working every day to address homelessness" and "opens the door to unnecessary litigation that could hinder the work of those serving our most vulnerable neighbors."
Citing biblical scripture from the book of Matthew, he said that for Christians, caring for neighbors "is not merely good public policy, but it's an act of discipleship."
"We support safe communities.
It's important to hold accountable those who traffic drugs and exploit vulnerable people," said Farrell.
"But safety and compassion are not competing values.
We can protect our communities without turning our backs on our neighbors."
The Rev.
Rodney Sadler, who defeated state Rep.
Carla Cunningham in the March 3 Democratic primary and is now running to represent parts of north Charlotte and Huntersville in the General Assembly, compared the HB-347 to Jim Crow-era vagrancy laws that targeted Black men for unemployment or homelessness and funnel them into forced prison labor.
"The legislation, in spirit and intent, does not seek to address the reasons why people fall into homelessness," Sadler said.
House Bill 437, titled "Drug-Free Zones/Unauthorized Public Camping," would bar cities and counties from allowing people to sleep or camp on public property not designated for recreation, including sidewalks, parks and other public rights-of-way.
Local governments could designate specific outdoor sites where people could sleep, but those spaces would have to provide bathrooms, sanitation and access to mental health and substance-use counseling.
The General Assembly did not provide funding to support the mandates required under the proposed law.
The bill would also establish "drug-free service zones" around shelters and facilities that serve unhoused people, making it a Class E felony to manufacture, sell or distribute controlled substances within those zones.
Service providers who knowingly allow drug activity at their facilities could face a Class H felony.
Residents and business owners would be allowed to sue local governments that failed to enforce the camping ban, opening cities and counties to potential litigation over how they manage encampments.
As more major cities have wrestled with growing populations of unhoused residents, at least 14 states have passed laws or policies that restrict or ban unauthorized public camping or sleeping.
Such measures gained momentum after the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that anti-camping ordinances do not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
The court's three liberal justices dissented.
Sadler also said much of the language in HB-437 can be traced to the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank that has pushed similar encampment bans in other states.
The Rev.
Jordan Boyd, pastor of Rockwell AME Zion Church, laid out specific changes that the faith leaders want to see if lawmakers revisit the bill: removing felony provisions for homeless service providers, clarifying ambiguous language regarding intent, and funding continuum-of-care and affordability programs rather than enforcement-only measures.
Meanwhile, some community leaders say Charlotte must somehow confront the growing issue of homelessness, even if HB-437 is ultimately defeated.
J'Tanya Adams, co-founder and executive director of Historic West End Partners, said she favors establishing indoor "landing spaces" where unhoused residents can rest and receive services.
But such spaces, she said, should be distributed throughout the city, not concentrated in low-income communities.
Adams, who was not part of the clergy group, acknowledged that some unhoused individuals avoid structured environments due to behavioral or health conditions, but they should not be allowed to "camp in rights-of-way and in front of merchants' doors and things of that nature," she said.
Michael Smith, president and CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners, pointed to the "A Home For All" plan, a strategy to prevent and end homelessness in Mecklenburg County, as evidence of the community's approach.
"I'm proud of the work that our community's doing around public safety and the measured approach that we take to having thoughtful and committed policy approaches to homelessness.
"Coming out of covid," he added, "I think we had all inadvertently relaxed our standards.
And I think our community is restoring its standards and trying to come up with thoughtful, comprehensive approaches to the way that we support those that are struggling with being unsheltered."
QCity Metro publisher Glenn H.
Burkins contributed reporting.
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