Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Homeless Encampment Bans
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday involving policies for handling homeless encampments, and how much power municipalities should have when enforcing anti-camping laws.
For Context: The case originated in Grant Pass, Oregon in 2018 when several homeless people filed suit in federal court alleging the town tried to banish them. Rulings from both a federal district judge in Medford and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disallowed the city from enforcing sleeping bans, saying that treating homelessness as a criminal offense violates the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. A decision from the high court is expected by the end of June.
Key Quotes: Justice Elena Kagan said, "Sleeping is a biological necessity. It’s sort of like breathing. I mean, you could say breathing is conduct, too. But, presumably, you would not think that it’s OK to criminalize breathing in public." Chief Justice John Roberts at one point suggested that local governments should handle the issue, asking, "Why do you think these nine people are the best people to judge and weigh these policy judgments?"
How the Media Covered It: Media on the left and right showed differing interpretations of the justice's positions, with headlines on the left and right in some cases directly opposing one another. A New York Times (Lean Left bias) headline said that the “Supreme Court Seems Poised to Uphold Local Bans,” while National Review News (Lean Right bias) said justices were more focused on whether “Outdoor-Sleeping Ban Unfairly Targets Homeless.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Supreme Court Justices Question if Outdoor-Sleeping Ban Unfairly Targets Homeless
During oral arguments on Monday in a key case involving the policing of homeless encampments, Supreme Court justices questioned lawyers about what it means to be homeless, when people with nowhere to go should be allowed to sleep outside, and how far municipalities should be allowed to go to enforce anti-camping laws.
Theane Evangelis, a lawyer representing the small southern Oregon city of Grants Pass, told the justices that anti-camping laws are “essential” to prevent the proliferation of unsanitary homeless camps and to ensure safety. She said West Coast cities have...
From the Center
U.S. Supreme Court justices seem split on how far to go to allow cities to regulate homelessness
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dove into the high-stakes case on homelessness that originated in Oregon’s Grants Pass with justices struggling to figure out where to draw the line on how far cities can go to regulate how people sleep or camp in public spaces.
They also asked if the Supreme Court even needed to intervene in this case since Oregon in 2021 adopted its own state law that allowed for “objectively reasonable” time, place and manner limits on sitting, lying or sleeping outside.
During two-and-a-half hours of lively argument, conservative...
From the Left
Supreme Court Seems Poised to Uphold Local Bans on Homeless Encampments
A majority of the Supreme Court appeared inclined on Monday to uphold a series of local ordinances that allowed a small Oregon city to ban homeless people from sleeping or camping in public spaces.
The justices seemed split along ideological lines in the case, which has sweeping implications for how the country deals with a growing homelessness crisis.
In a lengthy and, at times, fiery argument that lasted almost two and a half hours, questioning from the justices reflected the complexity of the homelessness debate. They weighed the status of poverty and...
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