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The Story of Disability Justice

First "ugly laws" created.

Date: 1867

The Story of Disability Justice
DCRJ
LLP
POV
RAC

Order No. 783. To Prohibit Street Begging, and to Restrain Certain Persons from Appearing in Streets and Public Places is introduced in San Francisco and uses words like "deformity," "disgust," and "unsightliness" to determine who has access to public spaces and who should be banned. Many other cities will soon follow. The first arrest under this law is of a former Union soldier in San Francisco. The "ugly laws" combine ableism, anti-Black racism, and anti-poverty thinking, and are part of what will eventually lead to contemporary anti-loitering laws.