Yet Another Reason
by ChrisMarch 22nd, 2005 9:41 am
As if a sane person really needed any additional reasons to vote for Seth Williams in the May primary we learn from Young Philly Politics that the DA’s office, under the direction of Lynne Abraham, is seizing the homes of non-criminals in North Philadelphia:
As I said, this practice is unfair and inhumane. The government is going after the homes of those who cannot afford to defend themselves, and despite the fact that they are not even being accused of any crime whatsoever, their home is taken. In this case, because the woman’s file made it to the Penn clinic, her home was eventually saved. Those who are not so lucky? Too bad, they are simply poor and screwed.
But, lets forget basic moral questions for a second, and think about the public policy ramifications. We have a City with many struggling neighborhoods, that have abandoned homes, unstable populations, a plethora of mortgage foreclosures, and all the problems that stem from those issues. And within that context, we have the DA, the locally elected DA, helping to push these neighborhoods further into decline by taking long time residents out of their homes?
In the end, of course, the whole thing must actually cost Philadelphia money. Forget the real, but still somewhat abstract monetary effect that a Sheriff Sale has on a neighborhood (some estimates have been that it knocks $15,000 off of the property value of its neighboring homes). Forget the psychic cost to a population that sees a longstanding neighborhood resident forced out of her home by officials elected to represent the interests of Philadelphia residents. How about some very basic costs? Where, for example, do you think people are going to go when this happens? How about a homeless shelter ($$$)? How about public housing ($$$)? Can this really be justified?
Via Will Bunch
