US Supreme Court upholds ban on homeless camps

By AFP

The US Supreme Court on Friday said laws that ban homeless people from sleeping outside were constitutional, rejecting arguments that the practice amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

The decision by the Supreme Court justices could carry high stakes. A record 653,100 people are homeless across the United States, according to a 2023 count.

The case centered around regulations in the city of Grants Pass, in the western state of Oregon, which banned camping or using any kind of bedding on public property after its public parks became filled with tents, blankets and cardboard.

Those breaking the rules face hundred-dollar fines and possible prison sentences for repeat offenders.

In a 6-3 ruling, split along right-left ideological lines, the country's highest court said homelessness is not a status protected by the US constitution's ban on cruel punishment.

"The Constitution’s Eighth Amendment serves many important functions, but it does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people and in their place dictate this nation’s homelessness policy," wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in the majority opinion.

The Supreme Court took up the case after a coalition of Republican-led states like Arizona and left-leaning leaders like California Governor Gavin Newsom complained that a lower court ruling was preventing them from addressing the homeless crisis.

During arguments earlier this year, the Supreme Court's conservative wing suggested in questioning that the matter was an issue best solved by the cities and states themselves.

Homeless advocates have argued that banning people from camping when there is nowhere else to sleep amounts to "cruel and unusual punishment" -- prohibited by the US constitution's Eighth Amendment.

"Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a dissenting opinion.

Grants Pass, with a population of 40,000, does not have a municipal homeless shelter and instead relies on private charities.

In addition to poverty, drug addiction and a lack of shelter beds propelling homelessness, economists argue the country's market-rate housing stock is woefully behind target -- leaving the United States short of millions of homes needed to meet demand and increasing prices for existing housing.