The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that cities have the right to ban homeless people from sleeping outdoors, even in West Coast areas where there are shelters and encampments.
This is the most significant case to come before the high court on this issue in decades and comes at a time when an increasing number of people in the United States of America (USA) are without a permanent place to live.
The high court’s ruling overturned a San Francisco appeals court ruling that found the outdoor sleeping ban to be cruel and unusual punishment.
“Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. Public policy responses may be needed to address it. A handful of federal judges cannot match the collective wisdom of the American people in deciding how best to deal with a pressing social issue like homelessness.” wrote judge Nil Gorsac.
He suggested that people who had no choice but to sleep in the open could cite it as their “necessary defence”.
Homeless advocates, on the other hand, said that allowing cities to fine people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness and ultimately worsen the crisis.
The ruling comes after homelessness in the US rose by a dramatic 12 percent last year to its highest level on record, as rising rents and falling aid amid the coronavirus pandemic helped make housing unaffordable for more people.
It is estimated that there are more than 650,000 homeless people in the US, and almost half of them sleep outside
