The US Supreme Court cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places yesterday, overturning a ruling from a California-based appeals court that found such laws amount to cruel and unusual punishment when shelter space is lacking.
In California, which is home to one-third of the country's homeless population, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said the decision gives state and local officials the authority to clear "unsafe encampments" from the streets while acting with compassion. Homeless advocates, on the other hand, have said that allowing cities to punish people who have no other place to sleep would ultimately make the crisis worse.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, criticised the majority ruling, saying cities shouldn't "attempt to arrest their way out of this problem or hide the homelessness crisis in neighboring cities or in jail".The case came from the rural Oregon town of Grants Pass, which appealed a ruling striking down local ordinances that fined people $295 for sleeping outside after tents began crowding public parks.
"Years from now, I hope that we will look back on today's watershed ruling as the turning point in America's homelessness crisis," she said.
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