Supreme Court weighs Oregon city's power to punish the homeless
The Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of municipal ordinances that punish homeless people for camping on public property when they have nowhere else to go.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday weighs the constitutionality of municipal ordinances that punish homeless people for camping on public property when they have nowhere else to go.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will review an appeals court ruling that said several ordinances enacted by the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon, are prohibited under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment.
The ordinances bar sleeping or camping on publicly owned property, including sidewalks, streets, bridges and city parks. Punishment, which is the key issue in the case, can include fines of up to several hundred dollars and exclusion orders barring people from public property.
A homeless man in Fruitdale Park in Grants Pass, Ore., on March 23, 2024. Jenny Kane / AP file Exacerbated by lack of housing and the high cost of rent, homelessness and how to deal with it have become flashpoints in many communities across the country.
Advocates for the homeless argue that the ordinances in effect punish people for existing when they have no other place to go and that the measures do nothing to address the underlying issue of housing shortages.
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