The Drifter Times

Know your rights

Short answers in plain words. This page can help you stay calm and make good choices. It cannot replace a lawyer.

When police stop or question you

• You can ask, “Am I free to go?” If the answer is yes, walk away calmly. If the officer says no, you are being detained.
• You can stay silent. You do not have to answer questions about where you are going, where you slept, or what you are doing. Say, out loud: “I choose to stay silent.”
• You do not have to agree to a search. Say, out loud: “I do not consent to a search.” Saying it protects your rights later. Never fight or grab back — let a court sort it out.
• Keep your hands where they can be seen. Do not run, do not argue, and do not give a false name — a false name can become a new charge.
• About ID: North Carolina does not have a general “stop and show ID” law for people on foot. If you are driving, you must show your driver’s license. If you are arrested, you will be asked your name and date of birth for booking.
• You can ask for a lawyer. Say: “I want a lawyer.” Then stay silent until you have one.
• Write it down later: the officer’s name or badge number, the time, the place, and what was said. It matters if you complain or go to court.

Camp sweeps — and your property

Charlotte has a city rule (Ordinance 15-26) against camping on city property — see The Law page for what it says. Cities and counties sometimes clear camps on public land. Here is what helps:

• Keep the irreplaceable things on your body: ID, medicine, phone, papers. A bag can be replaced. Your identity is harder.
• Take photos of your camp and your belongings when you set up. Photos help if property is taken or lost.
• Ask questions out loud: “How much time do I have? Where can I go? Where will my property be kept, and how do I get it back?” Ask for any notice in writing.
• Your belongings are not trash just because you live outside. Courts in many places have ruled that the government cannot simply destroy a person’s essential property — medicine, ID, tents, bedding — without notice and a real chance to claim it. Rules and storage practices differ by city, and they change.
• If your property is taken: CMPD keeps a property and evidence office — call 311 and ask how to claim property. Then call Legal Aid of NC (1-866-219-5262) if you cannot get it back.
• On private land (behind a store, in someone’s woods), the owner can make you leave, and staying after being told can be trespassing. On public land, the rules above apply.

Asking for money (panhandling)

Peacefully asking for money is free speech. The First Amendment protects it. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Reed v. Town of Gilbert. Since then, courts across the country have struck down many city laws that banned panhandling, because a law that targets one kind of speech — asking for help — is rarely allowed.

That does not mean anything goes. Police can still enforce safety rules that apply to everyone:

• Do not block a sidewalk, a doorway, or a bus stop so people cannot pass.
• Do not stand in traffic lanes to ask drivers for money. That is a safety law, and it applies to everybody.
• If someone says no, let them go. Following, touching, or threatening a person who refused can be charged as aggressive behavior.
• Private property is different: a store or mall can make you leave its property.

If you are cited or arrested just for asking, write down the details and call Legal Aid of NC. Some of these citations do not hold up in court.

Your rights at the emergency room

A federal law called EMTALA protects you at almost every hospital emergency room in America:

• The ER must examine you to find out if you have an emergency — whether or not you have insurance, money, or an address.
• If it is an emergency, they must treat you until you are stable, or arrange a safe transfer to a hospital that can.
• They may not delay your exam or treatment to ask how you will pay.
• After you are stable, the hospital can bill you, and follow-up care is not covered by this law. For ongoing care, see our Health & Care page.
• If an ER turned you away without an exam, you can complain to the federal agency CMS, or call Legal Aid of NC for help.

Voting without a fixed address

You do not need a house to vote in North Carolina. You need to be a U.S. citizen, 18 or older, and to have lived in your county for at least 30 days before the election.

• On the registration form, Box 4 asks where you live. Write the address where you stay most often — a shelter address works.
• No address at all? The form (Box 6) lets you show where you usually sleep — you can describe the spot or mark it, for example by the nearest streets.
• Box 5 needs a mailing address — somewhere your mail can reach you: a shelter, a day center, a friend or family member. Ask the staff; many will hold mail for you.
• Photo ID: North Carolina asks voters to show a photo ID at the polls. No ID? You can still vote — ask the poll worker for the ID Exception Form. County boards of elections also give out free voter photo IDs.
• Questions? The NC voter help line is 1-888-OUR-VOTE (1-888-687-8683). Registration forms are at libraries and at ncsbe.gov.

If a shelter treats you unfairly

Shelters run on rules, and most have a way to complain. Ask for the rules and the grievance steps in writing. If a shelter will not hear you, Mecklenburg County’s homeless services office oversees the local system — call 311 and ask for homeless services, or raise it during a Coordinated Entry meeting at the Roof Above Day Services Center (see Shelter & Kitchens). If the problem is legal — discrimination, a benefits denial, an eviction — call Legal Aid of NC.