Lower courts have said it's unconstitutional to punish people for sleeping outside if no shelter is available. Cities say these rulings have paralyzed their efforts to manage growing tent encampments.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a major case that could reshape how cities manage homelessness. The legal issue is whether they can fine or arrest people for sleeping outside if there’s no shelter available. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has deemed this cruel and unusual punishment, and this case is a pivotal challenge to that ruling.

The high court declined to take up a similar case in 2019. But since then, homelessness rates have climbed relentlessly. Street encampments have grown larger and have expanded to new places, igniting intense backlash from residents and businesses. Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing that’s helping to drive it have become key issues for many voters.

The case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, could have dramatic implications for the record number of people living in tents and cars across the United States.

    • ShepherdPie
      9·
      9 months ago

      What conservatives fail to acknowledge about this solution is that the taxpayers are now paying to feed and house these people, in jail, at a cost much higher than if you fed and housed them in society in the first place with the added draw back of them have zero opportunity to improve their situation on their own when you have them locked behind bars. Then their sentence ends and they get kicked out on the street right back in the same position they started in.

      It’s all so obvious and I don’t get how so many people fail to see this. Jail is upwards of $100/day which comes out to ~$3000 per month. You could rent them an entire house for $3000 a month in most areas.