Cities around our nation have criminalized homelessness, but now, the homeless are fighting back.

According to a recent article over at The Think Progress Blog, four homeless men in Manteca, California have filed a suit against the city, saying that the anti-homeless ordinances violate their constitutional rights.

About a year ago, that city made it illegal for anyone to sleep or set up camp outside. Then, they passed an ordinance against using the bathroom outdoors at all.

When asked whether the new laws were intended to ban homeless people, the city's chief of police said that they were only to “correct the wrong,” and “if the correction is [the homeless] leaving Manteca, then that's their choice.”

However, rather than simply leaving, four of the homeless men impacted by the ordinances filed suit, saying the laws were passed with, “a discriminatory purpose of driving the homeless from the city.” And, these brave men are not alone.

A lawsuit has also been filed on behalf of the homeless in St. Augustine, Florida, and the Justice Department has filed a memo against similar laws in Boise, Idaho.

The fact is, virtually no one is homeless by choice and it's wrong to prosecute someone simply for being stuck out on the street.