US Supreme Court allows cities to ban homeless people from sleeping outdoors

The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for cities to ban homeless people from sleeping outdoors in public places, overturning a California appeals court’s ruling that such laws amount to cruel and unusual punishment when There is a lack of space in shelters.

The case is the most important to come before the high court on the issue in decades and comes at a time when a growing number of people in the United States are without a permanent place to live.

In a 6-3 decision split along ideological lines, the high court found that such bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment.

Cities across the Western United States have argued that the decision makes it harder to manage outdoor encampments in public spaces, but homeless advocates say punishing those who need a place to sleep will criminalize such people.

In California, which is home to a third of the entire U.S. homeless population, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said the decision gives state and city officials the power to remove “unsafe encampments” from the streets, according to with policies that respect fundamental human rights.

“This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local authorities for years,” he said.

Justice Nigel Gorsuch acknowledged those concerns in the opinion he wrote for the majority.

“The issue of homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So, too, may be the public policy responses necessary to address it,” he wrote. “A handful of federal judges cannot even begin to ‘match’ the collective wisdom possessed by the American people when it comes to deciding ‘how best to handle’ a pressing social issue like homelessness.”

He suggested that people who have no choice but to sleep outdoors could raise it as a “necessity defense” if they receive a fine or other punishment for violating a camping ban.

Homeless advocates, on the other hand, said allowing cities to punish people who need a place to sleep will criminalize homelessness and ultimately worsen the crisis. Cities had been allowed to regulate camping under a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but they could not stop people from sleeping outdoors.

“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, reading from the bench a dissent joined by her liberal colleagues.

Punishing people for something they can’t control, such as homelessness, is cruel and unusual, he said. He warned that eliminating Eighth Amendment arguments against camping bans likely won’t end fights over the ordinances in court.

Karen Bass, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, criticized the majority’s decision, saying cities should not “try to get out of the problem by making arrests or hiding the homeless crisis in neighboring cities or in jail.” The only way to address it, she argued, is to link people to housing and services.

The case arose in the rural Oregon town of Grants Pass, which appealed a decision striking down local ordinances that imposed a $295 fine on people sleeping outdoors after large numbers of tents began crowding parks. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over nine Western states, has held since 2018 that such bans violate the Eighth Amendment in areas where there are not enough shelter spaces.

Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol told The Associated Press that the city will not immediately enforce the ordinances that fine people for sleeping outdoors, and that the City Council will need to review the decision and determine what next steps to take.

“The lawsuit is about whether cities have the right to impose restrictions on camping in public spaces, and I am relieved that Grants Pass can reclaim our urban parks for recreation,” said Bristol, who holds a nonpartisan position. “Homelessness is a complex problem, and our community has tried to find solutions.”

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