Liberal Justices Come Out Swinging In Uphill Battle Over Criminalizing Homelessness
by Talking Points Memo
Talking Points Memo— The liberal justices pounced aggressively in oral arguments Monday over a city ban on sleeping outside with a blanket, less indicative of a full-court press to sway their right-wing colleagues to their side and more an attempt to put their stamp on a case they know cannot be won.
Los Angeles Times—Abcarian: Criminalizing homelessness is unconscionable, but is it unconstutitional?. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about whether a small Oregon city can cite and prosecute homeless people for sleeping in public places when they have nowhere else to lay their heads. If the case reveals nothing else about the state of our country, it reveals this: We continue to fail the homeless people who live among us, and no single court ruling in the world is going to solve the underlying issues — the lack of affordable housing, widespread income equality, substance abuse...
Los Angeles Times—Opinion: I once lived in my car and can't fathom criminalizing homelessness. I’ve been homeless. Twice. I faced a dilemma in those situations that more than 650,000 Americans experience on any given day: “Where am I going to sleep tonight?” The legal battles over criminalizing homelessness seem completely disconnected from that reality. It’s a feeling I will never forget. In 2013, after my $2,500-a-month lease expired, I was looking for a home in Santa Monica. The previous lease was not affordable; I needed something more in a single dad’s budget. And I needed space for...
The Telegraph—Why Africa is facing an uphill battle to make its own vaccines. The continent – in dire need of its own production capabilities – could once again be at the back of the vaccine queue in the next pandemic