Supreme Court allows camping bans targeting homeless encampments
Supreme Court allows camping bans targeting homeless encampments
The 6-3 decision from the court in the case known as City of Grants Pass v. Johnson is its most significant involving homelessness in decades.
Judge a society by how it treats its weakest members. And judge hard.
I know I should be used to it by now but it shocks me that there are likely millions of christian conservatives who would yell at you for this, even though this sentiment is literally echoed exactly by Jesus.
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
That verse swings both ways. God isn't counting all your good deeds for the 'least of my brothers', but none of your transgressions against them.
Conservative (and let’s be real, also neoliberal) Christians hate that verse. There are so few places in the NT where Jesus explicitly says “you will go to hell for this,” and that’s one of them. They get extremely uncomfortable if you make them think about how they believe they will one day have to stand in front of God and explain why they ignored this verse.
So naturally I advocate bringing it up to them as much as possible. There actually are a lot of deeply Christian people who are disturbed by the dissonance there, and for the most part the messaging just isn’t happening. Like, what is the biggest Jesus advertisement campaign right now? Probably the
Protestant Buddy Jesus“He gets us” campaign, which doesn’t really say much of anything.
Yes, I'm sure some of those judges are hard right now
So then where are people supposed to sleep when nothing else is available, how can it possibly be a crime to give yourself shelter and sleep?
It is now illegal to sleep while homeless
Legally? Prison.
So poverty leads to slavery via the 13th amendment.
That's dark.
I can't believe the billionaires aren't yet worried about their safety. This environment is the stuff of revolutions.
There's also death. Don't forget about death.
Guess we're about to find out what happens when you take 600,000 economically disparaged people and temporarily lock them up in an understaffed for profit penal institution that is currently in the middle of historically low classes of recruits. Im sure this will make everyone involved a better person.
A crime wave they can blame on democrats?
Slavery 2.0
SCOTUS: "Good news, everyone! We figured out how to keep up the prison population amid record low crime rates so you won't have to pay minimum wage, isn't that great?"
What was that thing Jesus said? Do unto others?.... the greatest commandment is to love one... give all your possessions and follow..... something something... the least among you..... snaps fingers Hate gay people! That's what I'm supposed to do! Control women's medical choices, and make sure gay people have no rights. of course!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It comes as cities nationwide grapple with a spike in the number of people without access to shelter, driven in part by high housing costs and the end of aid programs launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ruling is likely to clear the way for state and local officials to mete out civil punishments in an effort to curtail homeless encampments, which have spread throughout the West as a result of a federal appeals court decision in the case involving anti-camping ordinances from Grants Pass, Oregon.
A number of state and local leaders across party lines have defended camping bans as necessary for protecting public health and safety, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit found laws imposing civil penalties on homeless people for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go are unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court reversed that decision, concluding that the enforcement of laws regulating camping on public property does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
In 2013, local officials decided to ramp up enforcement of ordinances that prohibit sleeping or camping on public property or in city parks.
A divided panel of three judges on the 9th Circuit upheld the district court's decision, finding that Grants Pass couldn't enforce its anti-camping ordinances against homeless people merely for sleeping outside with protection from the elements when they have nowhere else in the city to go.
The original article contains 678 words, the summary contains 237 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Living in Portland and seeing the Mayor a couple of days ago announce he was enforcing the camping ban starting on Monday, I pretty much expected this.
Frankly it's overdue. The people who want to argue "what about human dignity??!?!?" are ignoring the realities of the situation:
The government isn't ignoring human dignity, the campers already beat them to it.
And how does charging a homeless person $300 for falling asleep outside with a blanket fix any of that?
It's not charging a homeless person for falling asleep outside.
It's offering them shelter space and charging them when they refuse.
"Hey, let's help get you into a shelter..."
"Fuck you! I won't do what you tell me!"
Which, unfortunately, is all too common.
https://apnews.com/article/portland-oregon-homeless-camping-rules-419270cc3c36417789affb2b05df4da0
"Those who accept offers of shelter won’t be cited, according to Wheeler’s office. For those who are cited, the courts will determine whether to waive fines. The ordinance says it encourages diverting people to assessment, emergency shelter or housing instead of jail."
The Supreme Court is out of control. No one should have this much power.