U.S. Supreme Court says cities can punish people for sleeping in public places

A homeless person walks near an elementary school in Grants Pass, Ore., on March 23. The rural city became the unlikely face of the nation's homelessness crisis when it asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold its anti-camping laws.In its biggest decision on homelessness in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places.

Today’s ruling only changes current law in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes California and eight other Western states where the bulk of America’s unhoused population lives. But it will also determine whether similar policies elsewhere are permissible; and it will almost certainly influence homelessness policy in cities around the country.Grants Pass and other cities argued that lower court rulings fueled the spread of homeless encampments, endangering public health and safety.

Critics also said lower court rulings were ambiguous, making them unworkable in practice. Localities have faced dozens of lawsuits over the details of what’s allowed. And they argued that homelessness is a complex problem that requires balancing competing interests, something local officials are better equipped to do than the courts.

"It's sort of the bare minimum in what a just society should expect, is that you're not going to punish someone for something they have no ability to control," said Ed Johnson of the Oregon Law Center, which

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.

Iowa’s Supreme Court tells lower court to let strict abortion law go into effectThe Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling that put a temporary block on the state’s strict abortion law, and is telling the lower court to let the law take effect.
Source: WGAL - 🏆 331. / 59 Read more »

Oklahoma Supreme Court court rejects proposed religious public charter schoolThe state Supreme Court said the first-of-its-kind school, approved last year by the charter school board, violated the state and U.S. constitution.
Source: adndotcom - 🏆 293. / 63 Read more »

The one court that even the Supreme Court sees as going too farSteve Benen is a producer for 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of 'The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics.'
Source: MSNBC - 🏆 469. / 51 Read more »

Trump campaign reacts to bump stock Supreme Court decision: ‘The court has spoken’Former President Donald Trump's campaign supported the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a Trump administration ban on 'bump stocks,' which enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rounds faster.
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »

Supreme Court sides with Starbucks, makes it harder for NLRB to win court ordersThe justices tightened the standards for when a federal court should issue an order to protect the jobs of workers during a union organizing campaign.
Source: komonews - 🏆 272. / 63 Read more »

Supreme Court sends dispute over Arkansas' GOP-drawn congressional map back to lower courtLawrence Hurley covers the Supreme Court for NBC News.
Source: NBCNewsHealth - 🏆 707. / 51 Read more »