Owen Courreges
Privileged, slothful, and ever self-indulgent, the New Orleans “gutter punk” is a creature that inspires near universal disdain.
Our city’s new crusade to stop them, however, could wind up threatening us all.
Those of us in Uptown are thankfully spared from the infestation of unruly transients that mostly afflicts the Quarter and Marigny, but nevertheless we’ve all seen them at one time or another, begging for change, getting in fights, and making an all-around nuisance of themselves.
It’s hard to pin down precisely what makes a gutter punk, but the phrase generally refers to a young, white bum who displays some traits associated with punk subculture. They often panhandle, squat in abandoned buildings, and take on stray dogs (ostensibly as a means of avoiding arrest, since the LASPCA would have to be called out to take custody).
It is commonly suspected that many, if not most, gutter punks are voluntarily homeless. Their situation, the trope goes, is frequently a mere lifestyle choice, not a reflection of entrenched poverty.
The situation with the gutter punks became worse in recent months. Last November, WWL reported how Facebook groups had formed chronicling gutter punks “sleeping on sidewalks, aggressively panhandling at intersections and setting up camp overnight sometimes for days in Jackson Square.”
“They’re getting more aggressive. They’re coming in packs. They have dogs with chains on them. It’s intimidating to people walking down the street,” one business owner told WWL.
Finally, in January came the headline: “Frenchman Street musician shoots gutterpunk [sic] in self-defense.” Musician and war veteran Billy Gregory, 64, was outside a Marigny bar following a gig when a gang of gutter punks surrounded him and threatened to take his guitar.
The catalyst for this was, of course, utterly stupid. One of the gutter punks, the aptly-named Nicholas Temper, 24, had apparently become enraged because his girlfriend had complemented Gregory’s clothes. Sometime during the encounter Gregory felt threatened and pulled out a pistol, shooting Temper once in the chest. Some of the gutter punks followed Gregory and attacked him afterwards.
Despite conflicting accounts and the fact that Temper was not armed, Gregory was not charged with any crime. His attackers, on the other hand, were.
The regular drumbeat of complaints, together with the realization that the situation was turning violent, finally spurred a response. On March 27, the NOPD swept the Quarter and Marigny, arresting 22 gutter punks for violations such as Aggressive Solicitation, Illegal Vending, and Obstruction of Public Right-of-Ways.
The NOPD efforts were abetted by members of the “French Quarter Task Force,” a security patrol manned by off-duty officers funded by garbage magnate Sidney D. Torres. Torres also paid $4,000.00 to have LSPCA officers join police. The New Orleans Times-Picayune heralded the “raid” as “a sign of the new regime.”
Although it is not yet active, Mayor Landrieu’s “NOLA Patrol” – an unarmed civilian security patrol for the Quarter – has likewise been pitched as means of corralling gutter punks and controlling their activities.
In the abstract, this strong reaction seems positive. Again, gutter punks have few defenders. A recognized nuisance with few redeeming qualities, they have created an undeniable groundswell of loathing. A recent Times-Picayune online poll asking what the city ought to do about “French Quarter drifters” clocked in nearly 1,500 respondents (a whopping 77.94%) saying: “Arrest them all. They are a constant source of problems.”
Still, we should be wary of this kind of talk. Stereotyping is always over-inclusive. Some of the people we malign as gutter punks may simply be drifters who have fallen on hard times.
More fundamentally, regardless of whether gutter punks elicit sympathy, they’re human beings and they have rights. We can’t just “arrest them all.” If we get to the point where the harassment turns the other way, and bogus charges are brought en masse to push the gutter punks away, then it will become a cure that’s worse than the disease.
And who is to say that the rest of us wouldn’t suffer similar abuses? Unpopular groups tend to be like a canary in a coal mine when it comes to civil liberties issues. Years from now, I don’t want to be saying: “First they came for the gutter punks, but I said nothing, for I was not a gutter punk.”
We should also be concerned about the creation of privately-funded patrols or citizen patrols that are designed, in part, to intimate transients. Professional police employed by taxpayers are best equipped to fairly apply the law. They have proper training, full police authority, and their loyalties are not divided. Anything less invites abuses and questions of accountability.
The gutter punks do need ongoing attention, but the rule of law is more important than they are. No matter how awful or unsympathetic the target, our response must continue to be measured and appropriate.
Owen Courrèges, a New Orleans attorney and resident of the Garden District, offers his opinions for UptownMessenger.com on Mondays. He has previously written for the Reason Public Policy Foundation.
Thank you Owen for taking this unpopular stance. I am very concerned about the increasing privatization of state power. The French Quarter is public space which belongs to all. Access to it should not be determined by wealthy landowners and their private police forces. Do we live in Feudal Europe? Gutterpunks – no matter of disdainful – deserve Equal Justice Under Law.
Don’t fool yourself for one minute. The people behind the sidewalk obstructing law and the gutter punk crackdown do not care whether they are genuinely destitute or in a faux state of poverty.
Why does it matter if the offender is genuinely destitute or in a faux state of poverty? It seems much more dangerous to society to make this characterization or distinction than any fauxoutrage created in the original article.
It’s really comes down to a factual issue. Were the people arrested really blocking passage along the sidewalk, or just seated off to the side? And even if there was a genuine violation, were the arrests absolutely necessary (i.e., could they have issued a citation now, and then come back later and arrested them if they skipped their court date)?
The distinction between gutter punks and those who are genuinely destitute isn’t legally relevant, but it reflects why these anger-driven sweeps are at least arguably troubling.
It is understood that no one should be arrested or cited if they are not breaking the law. However, a difference in handling may occur based upon status. I have a home I will appear in court, a homeless person or a gutter punk is much less likely to appear or be found later as you suggest. (Not that it wouldn’t be a plus for the city if the citation had them move along.) You think there is anger fueling the attitude against one group, I have no knowledge of that. I don’t see much difference between the two groups and have little anger toward either unless I become a victim. A rational mayor and a well trained police force would solve these problems, unfortunately, we have neither.
Much ado about nothing.
Of course you are right, but I loathe them just the same. Seems easy enough to write them up on their continual violations. Perhaps we could send them away for ever if they get three strikes.
boathead,
You can’t get three strikes for minor municipal violations, but eventually the truly incorrigible ought to start receiving more serious punishments (i.e., jail time).
Funny how the author has no problem going after white kids who derange.
Why can’t Mr. Courrege muster up the courrage to condemn black kids who carjack, murder, rob and rape?
That’s irrelevant and inflammatory. First of all, the main thrust of my column is to argue that even the gutter punks deserve due process and may be receiving unfair treatment. I’m as much defending them as “going after them.”
Secondly, the diffuse problem of black youths committing violent crimes is simply not the focus of this column and there’s no reason why it has to be. Aside from acknowledging the fact in passing that gutter punks are generally white, I didn’t specifically address anything related to race. To the contrary, I argued that the stereotyping of gutter punks might be unfair.
I’ve written a lot of columns on crime and violent crime in particular, and I’ll say here what I’ve said many times before: It’s not a racial issue and racially-charged arguments are not helpful.
Unless Owen is an alter for Jewel, your post makes no sense based upon anything I have ever read here.
Laura White, the best and most accurate comment I have ever seen on this blog. Owen and robert morris will never put blame on the ones that earn it.
Many of America’s children have fled their homes to avoid abuse (in its many forms) and I’m saddened by America’s lack of empathy and social services to protect them and guide them productively back into society.
That being said, it’s easy to blame an able-bodied individual panhandling while the rest of us are working for a living. The solutions are as varied as the homeless individuals themselves, and cuts to social services only make these issues worse… for our society as a whole.
It never ceases to amaze me how we have a trillion dollars for the F-35 and yet we’re cutting resources to the poor and to our children.
Trillions are also spent on the social welfare of our citizens. The reality is our social service bureaucracy is pretty much a failure at anything but building a bureaucracy, not many of our dysfunctionals find a way back into productive society.
“Despite conflicting accounts and the fact that Temper was not armed, Gregory was not charged with any crime. His attackers, on the other hand, were.”
I find it ironic that you seem to imply that this was not appropriate as I recall you taking a firm stance of support for Stand Your Ground.
“Professional police employed by taxpayers are best equipped to fairly apply the law. They have proper training, full police authority, and their loyalties are not divided.”
If only New Orleans had some of these professional police. We’re paying taxes but sure not seeing much in the way of services being funded by it.
This paired with the TP article a week or two ago really reminds me of the Alien vs Predator movie poster. “Sidney Torres vs the gutterpunks. Whoever wins, we lose.”