Justices to consider constitutionality of punishing people for sleeping outside as western states seek to address encampments

A case that could significantly change how US cities respond to the growing homelessness crisis has reached the supreme court as record numbers of people in America find themselves without a permanent place to live.

The justices on Monday will consider a challenge to rulings from a California-based appeals court that found punishing people for sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking amounts to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

The case stems from a 2019 camping ban enacted by city officials in Grants Pass, Oregon, a small mountain town where rents are rising and there is just one overnight shelter for adults. Debra Blake, who had lost her job a decade earlier and was unhoused, was cited for illegal camping. After being convicted and fined, she soon joined other unhoused residents in suing the city over the ordinance.

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      It be easier and cheaper and more profitable to just give these people places to live, social services and some education, and get them back to being working, tax-paying members of society.

      Not that I think their value is only in their capability to produce, but that’s how politicians like it to be framed.