Mike Gatto

Former State Assemblyman, Mike Gatto Counts on Votes to Change the State’s Approach of Homelessness

Former State Assemblyman, Mike Gatto, recently proposed a ballot initiative that could possibly change the state’s approach to homelessness. Gatto’s initiative would be to treat certain existing crimes such as defecating on public transportation, public drug abuse, etc. as cries for help. 

Unlike traditional approaches where the law is sought to criminalize homelessness, Gatto’s approach would have the courts assess the crime and determine if it is due to economic need, a drug-dependency, or mental-health issues. The court would then “sentence” the defendant to an appropriate treatment plan: connecting the defendant to existing shelters and safety-net programs like general welfare, or requiring that the defendant participate in drug rehabilitation and treatment, or placing the defendant in an appropriate mental-health hospital with access to free prescription drugs. 

This proposed system would be to help recognize what the homeless people need as well as seek to return to the respect of law and order. Gatto’s bill would require every county with more than 100,000 people to set up a specialized court that can steer people to its proper services. 

Gatto states, “It is not humane to leave people who need help on the streets. We the people must go to the ballot box on this issue, because governments everywhere have let us down, and have let down the people on the streets.”

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前州议员Mike Gatto希望通过投票来改变该州无家可归者的状况。

前州议员Mike Gatto最近提出了一项投票倡议，可能会改变该州对无家可归者的态度。Gatto的倡议是将某些现有的罪行，如在公共交通上排便、公共药物滥用等视为呼救。

与传统的将无家可归定为刑事犯罪的做法不同，Gatto的方法是让法院对犯罪进行评估，并确定是否是由于经济需要、药物依赖或者心理健康问题。随后法院将“被告”判决一个适当的治疗计划: 将被告与现有庇佑所和网络安全项目联系起来，如公共福利，或要求被告参与药物康复和治疗，或将被告安排在适当的精神医院，以获得免费处方药。

这项拟议的制度将有助于确认无家可归者的需要，并寻求恢复法律和秩序对其的尊重。Gatto的提案倡议每一个拥有超过10万人口的州都设立一个专门的法庭，引导人们获得应有的服务。

Gatto说：“把需要帮助的人留在街上是不人道的。我们人民必须在这个问题上投票，因为各地政府让我们失望了，也让街头民众失望了。”