The Supreme Court Wants Nothing to Do With Homelessness

The Supreme Court appeared to be split on Monday on whether an Oregon city’s ordinances that make it illegal to sleep outdoors in public spaces violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. While most of the justices seemed reluctant to “constitutionalize” local homelessness policies, there was plenty of hesitance about leaving homeless people with no legal recourse. In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, federal courts blocked officials in Grants Pass, Oregon, from enforcing city ordinances that make it a civil violation to sleep outdoors with a...