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.

  • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    Free to use campgrounds would be fine as long as people are not allowed to stay longer than a certain period of time. They can move from different campground to campground and then back again, but it’s important that campgrounds don’t become permanent dwellings.

    There are a lot of empty office buildings in my city. Perhaps they should be squatting on capitalism.