The


U.S.
Supreme
Court
on
Friday

ruled
that
U.S.
cities
have
the
authority
to
ban
homeless
people
from
sleeping
outside,
in
a
case
brought
against
a
city
in

Oregon
that
sought
protection
for
homeless
residents
under
the
Eighth
Amendment
to
the
U.S.
Constitution.

Challengers
to
the
position
of
Grants
Pass,
Oregon,
argued
that
the
amendment
—
which
prohibits
authorities
from
inflicting
“cruel
and
unusual”
punishments
—
applies
to
unhoused
individuals
and
protects
them
from
municipal
ordinances
against
encampments
on
public
property.
But
the
court
instead
found
that
the
Eighth
Amendment
does
not
guarantee
protections
for
unhoused
people.

“The
Cruel
and
Unusual
Punishments
Clause
focuses
on
the
question
what
‘method
or
kind
of
punishment’
a
government
may
impose
after
a
criminal
conviction,
not
on
the
question
whether
a
government
may
criminalize
particular
behavior
in
the
first
place
or
how
it
may
go
about
securing
a
conviction
for
that
offense,”
Justice
Neil
Gorsuch
wrote
in
expressing
the
majority
opinion.

Applying
precedent
to
define
the
terms
“cruel”
and
“unusual,”
the
majority
opinion
states
that
the
Grants
Pass
measures
do
not
qualify
as
either
since
they
neither
aim
to
impose
“terror,
pain
or
disgrace,”
and
because
laws
against
encampments
are
“commonplace”
nationwide.

The
case
was
decided
6-3
along
the
ideological
lines
of
the
court.
Justices
appointed
by
Republican
presidents
(Gorsuch,
Samuel
Alito,
Amy
Coney
Barrett,
Brett
Kavanaugh,
Clarence
Thomas
and
Chief
Justice
John
Roberts)
ruled
in
favor
of
the
ordinances,
while
justices
appointed
by
Democratic
presidents
(Elena
Kagan,
Ketanji
Brown
Jackson
and
Sonya
Sotomayor)
sided
against
them.

In
an
uncommon
move,
Sotomayor
read
her
dissent
from
the
bench,
a
move
typically
characterized
as
an
expression
of
vehement
disagreement
with
a
majority
opinion.

Such
laws,
she
said,
are
“unconscionable
and
unconstitutional,”
later
adding
that
“sleep
is
a
biological
necessity,
not
a
crime.”

David
Dworkin,
president
and
CEO
of
the


National
Housing
Conference
(NHC),
a
collaborative
of

affordable
housing
stakeholders,
blasted
the
decision

in
a
statement
released
Friday.

“The
Supreme
Court’s
decision
on
criminalizing

homelessness
is
a
tragic
failure
of
governance
and
a
significant
step
backwards
for
resolving
the
homelessness
crisis
in
the
United
States,”
he
said.
“Today’s
ruling
criminally
penalizes
people
for
often
unavoidable
circumstances
and
violates
the
basic
dignities
and
human
rights
of
our
most
vulnerable
citizens.”

Imposing
legal
penalties
on
people
for
sleeping
in
public
spaces,
particularly
if
there
are
no
alternatives
available
to
them,
“is
unjust,
counterproductive,
and
has
repeatedly
been
proven
as
ineffective
by
the
broadest
range
of
housing
experts,”
he
added.

Related