The Supreme Court said Friday it will weigh whether a city's enforcement of rules prohibiting homeless residents from camping on public property violates the Constitution's protection from cruel and unusual punishment.
The court agreed to take up a case arising from Grants Pass, Oregon, which enacted three ordinances that prohibit sleeping on public sidewalks or streets and camping on streets, parks or other publicly owned property. Violators are subject to civil citations and can be barred from entering a city park for 30 days.
Three homeless residents sued the city in October 2018 on behalf of themselves and "all involuntarily homeless individuals living in Grants Pass." They sought to block the city from enforcing the ordinances, which they said unconstitutionally punished them for resting, sleeping and seeking shelter from the elements in Grants Pass. A count of homeless individuals conducted by the United Community Action Network in January 2019 found there were 602 homeless people in the city.
Poster Comment:
The federal government has been letting millions of illegal aliens into the country driving up rents beyond the means of millions of Americans. So maybe Biden could ask the Senate and the House for a federal supremacy homeless law allowing the poor the right to sleep under bridges and parks.