The rural city of Grants Pass in southern Oregon has become the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis as its case over anti-camping laws goes to the U.S.

The scenes were emblematic of the crisis gripping the small, Oregon mountain town of Grants Pass, where a fierce fight over park space has become a battleground for a much larger, national debate on homelessness that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

The town’s case, set to be heard April 22, has broad implications for how not only Grants Pass, but communities nationwide address homelessness, including whether they can fine or jail people for camping in public. It has made the town of 40,000 the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis, and further fueled the debate over how to deal with it.

“I certainly wish this wasn’t what my town was known for,” Mayor Sara Bristol told The Associated Press last month. “It’s not the reason why I became mayor. And yet it has dominated every single thing that I’ve done for the last 3 1/2 years.”

Officials across the political spectrum — from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, which has nearly 30% of the nation’s homeless population, to a group of 22 conservative-led states — have filed briefs in the case, saying lower court rulings have hamstrung their ability to deal with encampments.

  • FirstCircle@lemmy.mlEnglish
    412·
    8 months ago

    You can be sure that these jailed homeless people will end up being forced into labor - enslaved - because you can’t let dirt-cheap labor go to waste, and you can’t let a poor person look like they’re getting something for nothing - mooching, free-riding - even if it’s not their choice. Handouts are legitimately only for the rich and their corporations after all. If someone’s fined+jailed and won’t work for some capitalist exploiter, what will be done? I would guess some kind of torture will be employed to change their minds, but wouldn’t be surprised if they’re simply executed, especially if they’re non-white.

        • rc_buggy@sh.itjust.works
          323·
          8 months ago

          That’s a strawman argument. She wasn’t tortured to make her work, she was tortured by a sadist.

          • BakerBagel
            213·
            8 months ago

            You’re right. Clearly our jail and prison industry is entirely above board

            • rc_buggy@sh.itjust.works
              111·
              8 months ago

              Yeah, that paper that famously pointed out that county corrections inmates are required to maintain the cleanliness of their living space.

                  • BreakDecks@lemmy.mlEnglish
                    31·
                    8 months ago

                    Your argument seems to have changed from “forced labor in county jails doesn’t exist” to “I support forced labor in county jails”. Not really convincing me that you’re interested in anything other than bootlicking.

                    If you’re imprisoning someone against their will who has not been convicted of a crime, you can’t legally compel them to do any amount of labor, not even janitorial work. The Constitution is quite clear on this.

                    As an adult, I have no obligation to clean up after myself if I don’t want to, the government can’t compel me to do so either just because I’m in their custody. If they lock me up in jail without a conviction, they can clean my cell for me until I am either released or convicted if it matters so much to them. Any attempt to punish me for failure to clean their facility is nakedly unconstitutional.

                    Or they can offer me a fair wage that I’ll agree to, as a free agent I am open to negotiation. I have the right not to lift a finger without agreeable pay. Nobody takes that right away from me without due process.