Civil rights groups warned Friday that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to accept the constitutionality of punishing people for sleeping outdoors will worsen the homelessness crisis, even as some politicians welcomed the possibility of removing the tents which are seen more and more frequently throughout the country.
The six-member court’s conservative majority ruled that laws that punish people for sleeping rough, even when no shelter is available, do not violate the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment.
Homeless advocacy groups say the move criminalizes people and poverty in many North American cities that are suffering from a shortage of affordable housing. The government estimates that about 600,000 people in the United States are homeless.
As the court said, the states with the highest rates of homelessness are California, Oregon, Hawaii, Arizona and Nevada, located in the western part of the country.
“Today’s decision is shameful and will undoubtedly worsen the homeless crisis,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign director for the Washington-based National Homeless Law Center. “We know that throwing homeless people into jail or giving them hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines traps them in a cycle of poverty and homelessness forever.”
In the court’s majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, “Nothing in today’s ruling prevents states, cities, and counties from stepping forward and refusing to outright criminalize public camping.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, was among the leaders who supported officials in Grants Pass, Oregon, who sought to defend their authority by fining people who slept in public with a blanket or pillow $295 and jailing violators for up to 30 days.
“This ruling removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to take common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities,” he said in a statement.
Source: Terra
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