The Supreme Court ruled Friday that an Oregon city may enforce a law preventing homeless encampments on public property.
The 6-3 ruling split the justices ideologically, but the conservative majority reasoned it’s not “cruel and unusual” punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to ticket the homeless.
“Different governments may use these laws in different ways and to varying degrees,” wrote Justice Neil M. Gorsuch for the majority. “But many broadly agree that ‘policymakers need access to the full panoply of tools in the policy toolbox’ to ‘tackle the complicated issues of housing and homelessness.’”
The three Democratic appointees — Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — dissented, arguing it’s unlawful for a city to criminalize sleeping outside.
“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option,” wrote Justice Sotomayor. “Punishing people for their status is ’cruel and unusual’ under the Eighth Amendment.”
The ordinances at issue in the legal battle were implemented by Grants Pass, Oregon, and prohibit homeless people from sleeping in public parks and on streets and sidewalks.
Critics say the ordinances, under which violators are fined, run afoul of the Eighth Amendment.
Homeless people sued Grants Pass in 2018 over the measures.
The U.S. District Court for Oregon ruled that the ordinances violated the Constitution, issuing a classwide injunction against the measures.
Grants Pass lost its appeal in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and took its case to the Supreme Court.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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