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39 UCLA L. Rev. 295 (1991-1992)
Homelessness and the Issue of Freedom

handle is hein.journals/uclalr39 and id is 309 raw text is: ESSAYS HOMELESSNESS AND THE ISSUE OF FREEDOM Jeremy Waldron* INTRODUCTION There are many facets to the nightmare of homelessness. In this essay, I want to explore just one of them: the relation between homelessness, the rules of public and private property, and the un- derlying freedom of those who are condemned by poverty to walk the streets and sleep in the open. Unlike some recent discussions, my concern is not with the constitutionality of various restrictions on the homeless (though that, of course, is important).' I want to address a prior question-a more fundamental question-of legal and moral philosophy: how should we think about homelessness, how should we conceive of it, in relation to a value like freedom? The discussion that follows is, in some ways, an abstract one. This is intentional. The aim is to refute the view that, on abstract liberal principles, there is no reason to be troubled by the plight of the homeless, and that one has to come down to the more concrete * Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program, School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley. B.A. 1974, LL.B. 1978, University of Otago, New Zealand; D. Phil. 1986, Oxford University. An earlier version of this essay was presented at faculty workshops at Cornell University and at Boalt Hall. I am grate- ful to all who participated in those discussions, but particularly to Gary Gleb, Carol Sanger, and Henry Shue for the very detailed suggestions they have offered. 1. See, e.g., Siebert, Homeless People: Establishing Rights to Shelter, 4 LAW & INEQUALITY 393 (1986) (no constitutional guarantee of adequate housing); Comment, The Unconstitutionality of Antihomeless Laws: Ordinances Prohibiting Sleeping in Outdoor Public Areas as a Violation of the Right to Travel, 77 CALIF. L. REV. 595 (1989) (authored by Ades) (arguing that laws that proscribe sleeping in outdoor public areas violate the right to travel).

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