Supreme Court addresses the issue of homelessness in the US

Supreme Court addresses the issue of homelessness in the US

On Monday, the US Supreme Court took up the issue of homelessness in the country by debating whether outlawing public sleeping constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Although the case focuses on the tiny Oregonian town of Grants Pass, it has enormous ramifications for towns of all sizes.

The conservative majority on the court seemed to support the claim that local governments should have the authority to make decisions on homelessness.

Early summer is when we should anticipate its verdict.

Grants Pass prohibits sleeping or camping in municipal parks or public land. A "campsite" is defined as any area that has "any stove or fire is placed, or bedding, sleeping bag, or other material used for bedding purpose." Repeat offenders risk a $295 fine or up to 20 days in prison.

With a population of just under 40,000, the city claimed to have implemented its camping laws "moderately," issuing more than 500 tickets in the course of five years, from 2013 to 2018.

Nevertheless, five Grants Pass homeless persons sued the city in 2018 on behalf of the community, claiming the prohibition went against the eighth amendment of the US Constitution, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment.

In response, Grants Pass said that the penalties and potential prison term were not harsh but rather essential deterrents for homeless camps. In contrast, a lower court, the 9th US Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco, held that the ordinances were unenforceable.

However, throughout the course of more than two hours of arguments on Monday, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court seemed to support the claims made by Grants Pass attorney Theane Evangelis, who argued that issues like homelessness and homeless encampments were "complicated policy questions" that were better left to lawmakers rather than judges.

"Why do you think these nine people are the best people to judge and weigh those policy judgments?" At one point, Chief Justice John Roberts inquired on behalf of the eight other justices as well as himself.

The three liberal judges, however, expressed more concern about the treatment of the homeless, pointing out that sleeping is a fundamental human necessity.

"If every city, hamlet, and town lacks empathy and enacts a legislation just like this, where are we going to put them? Where are they meant to rest?" Asking Ms. Evangelis, Justice Sonia Sotomayor. "Are they supposed to kill themselves, not sleeping?"

June or July will see the justices' announcement of their ruling.

Nearly a hundred demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse to show support for the homeless, many of them carrying posters that said "housing solves homelessness" and "housing not handcuffs".

This issue arises as American communities struggle with a homelessness epidemic, exacerbated in part by long-term scarcity of affordable housing.

A Department of Housing and Urban Development data from December projected that on any given night in the nation last year, there were around 256,000 individuals without a place to live.

According to the research, the number of homeless individuals increased by 12% between 2022 and 2023, or around 70,650 more persons, making it the highest level since monitoring started in 2007.

Since California is home to about one-third of the nation's homeless people, the issue is perhaps at its worst there.

On Monday, while sitting with his dog Lucy on the tree-lined streets of West Hollywood in Los Angeles, 56-year-old Peter Migliaccio struggled with a wrench, attempting to repair his broken bike.

Mr. Migliaccio has been without a place to live for the last two months. Although he is agoraphobic and would rather remain on the sidewalk of the neighborhood he has lived in for the last 20 years, city authorities were able to get him a shelter bed a few miles away.

Occasionally, the cops transfer him to a different location when neighbors complain about his being outdoors.

A few cardboard boxes and cases holding some of the items Mr. Migliaccio needed to survive on the streets surrounded him as he spoke. "No one would tell me what the rule is as to where I could stay or for how long," he said.

Repetition of "I don't want to be here," was his statement. "This is not something you choose to do; it is something that happens to you."