Supreme Court weighs bans targeting homeless encampments

The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which involves bans on homeless encampments and where people can sleep. The high court will examine if laws can constitutionally penalize homeless people with civil citations for camping on public property.

#news #supremecourt #homeless

[derylreed]

If you lock someone up for being homeless and sleeping on the street when you let them out he'll still be homeless and sleeping on the street unless you plan on keeping them in there forever

[dragonf]

Public property therefore it belongs to every American citizen the homeless are the public.

[derylreed]

There are working homeless in this country they just don't make enough money to afford a place average rent in Seattle is 2500 a month

[dragonf]

Politicians and government officials should not be allowed to own or possess interest in rental properties

[d.m.]

We are living in the most evil and ugly times.

[badchippo]

Comparing a biological necessity to a chemical or psychological substance dependency is not intellectually honest.

[Benny-ne]

Only arresting people WITHOUT a home…definitely a violation of rights.

[awtodor]

Saying that you have a defense still means you get arrested, get fined, go to court. And youd have to still assert it and have the court agree. All for a basic human need to sleep and a society thats thrown everyone overboard

[superzenkie]

Forcing people to labor for low wages and then criminalizing them when they become broken and unable to do servitude you punish them

[rachels.]

This is so unbelievably abhorrent. I can’t comprehend how someone could be so fundamentally devoid of empathy or compassion to make this case.

[jessitaran]

Personally, I will not be separated from my dogs PERIOD. Should I be defined as a criminal for that? Maybe instead of putting people in jail because they don't have any place else to go, maybe cities should be required to allocate designated areas where people who are unhoused are allowed to sleep.

[Lynn-zxth]

The jails are overcrowded as it is. This is absolutely nuts!

[andrewsherman]

As someone who works in the field of homelessness prevention, I cannot imagine telling a homeless neighbor that their inability to provide shelter for themselves is worthy of criminal charges. While a solution needs to be found, as I and my coworkers work towards everyday, this is not it. This will overload the criminal system with needless red tape bureaucracy, reignite the homeless neighbor’s anxiety, and further the problem of homelessness as more people unfortunately fall into homelessness. There is NOT a one-size-fits all solution to homelessness-I want to make that absolutely clear.

[tonyapeden]

They really need to look up the definition of camping. Camping is done as a vacation. These people may use tents but they are not “camping “. They are surviving.

[brianphillips]

It is amazing that we refuse to look at the big picture here. WHY are so many Americans struggling with homelessness, drug abuse and mental health? What is broken in our society that is causing this upward trend?

[Benny-ne]

It is so fun listening to someone trying to defend the indefensible.

[christinesentman]

Here's an idea: Pass a Law restricting prices to be inflated more than a wage.

[rodneysims]

We spent billions overseas but we don't invest in the issues at home.

[rodneysims]

You could end up in that situation yourself!

[derylreed]

The argument is that the reason that the people are homeless is called their own drugs that is a false most of the people who are homeless are 55 years old I cannot afford living on their social security mentally ill