Supreme Court divided on homelessness case that will affect California encampment policy
by Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times— Supreme Court justices sounded sharply split Monday over whether to give cities in the West more authority to restrict homeless encampments on sidewalks and other public property. The court's three liberals said they were wary of giving cities a broad and unchecked power to use arrests and fines to punish homeless people who are sleeping outside. "Sleeping is a biological necessity," Justice Elena Kagan said. It "seems like you are criminalizing the status of homelessness," she told a lawyer...
Los Angeles Times—California leaders asked for a Supreme Court homelessness decision. Will it backfire?. As the nation's highest court heard arguments this week in a case expected to shape homelessness policies in the years to come, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath listened angrily. The case involved a small Oregon town seeking to rid its streets and parks of encampments, and leaders across California had joined in calling for the Supreme Court to take up the issue, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and L.A. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto. But not Horvath....
The Guardian—‘Where are they supposed to sleep?’: US supreme court appears divided on key homelessness case. Justices consider constitutionality of punishing people for sleeping outside as western states seek to address encampmentsThe debate over how US cities can respond to America’s spiraling homelessness crisis reached the supreme court this week, as justices heard arguments over the constitutionality of local laws used against unhoused people sleeping outside.The justices on Monday considered a challenge to rulings from a California-based appeals court that found punishing people for sleeping...
Mother Jones—Will the Supreme Court make homelessness a crime?. Helen Cruz has been a resident of Grants Pass, Oregon, for roughly four decades, but for the last five of those years, she’s had no home in which to live. She’s not alone. Her small mountain town with a population of 39,189 provides no public homeless shelters. She is among up to 600 people experiencing […]