Will the Supreme Court Uphold the 14th Amendment and Block an Oregon Law Criminalizing Homelessness?

  • 📰 Slate
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 63 sec. here
  • 6 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 38%
  • Publisher: 51%

Jurisprudence News

Supreme-Court,Poverty,Oregon

With the gap between the richest and poorest Americans growing, the justices will hear oral argument on Monday in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson.

. In some areas and among some populations, entrenched economic inequality is particularly acute. One in four children in New York Cityas white Americans to reside in high-poverty neighborhoods. These figures are a testament to the pressing need to address economic inequality and thein this country.

Fortunately, there is a tool available in this case—and in the fight against economic inequality generally—that has for far too long been underutilized in the realm of economic justice: the 14Amendment revolutionized our Constitution, changing a document that sanctioned bondage into one that promised liberation and equal citizenship. But this is only part of the story: The 14Amendment was also adopted to safeguard the fundamental rights and equality of poor people.

Redressing the horrors and aftermath of slavery required sweeping guarantees to protect the most oppressed Americans—those who had been held in slavery, forced to toil their entire lives without pay, denied ownership of their bodies and brutalized, and left in abject poverty. One of the chief abuses the 14were pernicious vagrancy laws in the post–Civil War Black Codes, which were designed to push Black Americans back into enslavement simply because they were poor.

In 2013 the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, adopted a series of ordinances that criminalize sleeping anywhere in public with as little as a blanket. Rather than protect its most marginalized inhabitants, the city sought to use the power of criminal law to banish its homeless residents.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 716. in LAW

Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Civil rights groups urge Supreme Court to uphold homeless shelter mandateBay Area civil rights groups are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a mandate that requires cities to offer shelter or housing to homeless people before clearing encampments. Advocates worry that a ruling against the mandate could lead to a crackdown on those living on the street.
Source: mercnews - 🏆 88. / 68 Read more »

Justice Thomas misses Supreme Court session Monday with no explanationSupreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is absent from the court Monday with no explanation.
Source: ksatnews - 🏆 442. / 53 Read more »

Justice Thomas misses Supreme Court session Monday with no explanationSupreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is absent from the court Monday with no explanation.
Source: wjxt4 - 🏆 246. / 63 Read more »

Former Supreme Court Justice Breyer aims to return as visiting judge on federal appeals courtFormer Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to serve as a visiting judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. Breyer, who retired in 2022, expressed his interest in a podcast and the appeals court confirmed his plans.
Source: NBCNewsHealth - 🏆 707. / 51 Read more »

Montenegro’s Supreme Court sends Do Kwon’s extradition case back to lower courtThe legal tussles in Montenegro’s courts continue as the country’s Supreme Court sends the question of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s extradition back to a high court.
Source: Cointelegraph - 🏆 562. / 51 Read more »

Supreme Court seems likely to preserve access to the abortion medication mifepristoneJust days after she was hired, former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel is out at NBC News, according to Puck News.
Source: dothaneagle - 🏆 337. / 59 Read more »