- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
- Zelensky to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Israel captain says 'difficult' to focus on football in time of war
- Macron to host Ukraine's Zelensky after meeting Ukrainian troops
- Root says 'many more to get' after England Test runs landmark
- India pile up World Cup high to rout Sri Lanka
- One year later, Israeli hostage family learns of loss
- Texans receiver Collins, Pats' safety Peppers out for NFL clash
- Biden-Netanyahu talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- Musk's X available again in Brazil after 40-day ban
- Reddy stars as India crush Bangladesh to clinch T20 series
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- Arch rivals Ghana, Nigeria drawn together in CHAN qualifying
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Trump lauds India's Modi as 'total killer'
- Wall Street, Europe rise as Chinese shares tumble
- Hunkering down for Hurricane Milton at Disney -- but first, a few rides
- Reddy, Rinku power India to 221-9 in second Bangladesh T20
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Time running out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- The long walk for water in the parched Colombian Amazon
- Biden-Netanyahu to talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- France vows to step up drugs fight after police vehicles torched
- Air France says jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel
- Activists target Picasso work to protest Israel arms sales
- Let 'Emily in Paris' remain in Paris, Macron says
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Record-breaking Root helps England dominate Pakistan in first Test
- German govt sees economy shrinking again in 2024
- Ex-UK soldier denies passing secrets to Iran intelligence
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Three Kosovo Serbs on trial over 'secession plot' attack
- Van Gogh museum to launch Impressionism show
RBGPF | -2.48% | 59.33 | $ | |
SCS | 1.92% | 13.03 | $ | |
GSK | 5.54% | 40.25 | $ | |
BP | -0.16% | 31.98 | $ | |
NGG | -0.44% | 65.61 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.65% | 24.48 | $ | |
AZN | 0.82% | 77.505 | $ | |
BTI | 0.72% | 35.475 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.01% | 6.9 | $ | |
RELX | 0.12% | 46.695 | $ | |
RIO | -0.47% | 66.35 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.29% | 24.78 | $ | |
VOD | 0.72% | 9.73 | $ | |
BCE | -0.57% | 33.32 | $ | |
BCC | 0.21% | 142.32 | $ | |
JRI | 0.34% | 13.205 | $ |
US Supreme Court weighs ban on homeless people sleeping outside
The US Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on whether cities can ban homeless people from sleeping outside, as the country grapples with increasing rates of Americans living on the streets and a lack of shelter beds.
The case centers around regulations in the city of Grants Pass, in the western state of Oregon, which banned camping or using any kind of bedding on public property after its public parks became filled with tents, blankets and cardboard.
Those breaking the rules face hundred-dollar fines and possible prison sentences for repeat offenders.
Homeless advocates have argued that banning people from camping when there is nowhere else to sleep amounts to "cruel and unusual punishment" -- prohibited by the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment.
The decision of the nine Supreme Court justices, expected by June 30, could carry high stakes. A record 653,100 people are homeless across the country, according to a 2023 count.
"The ordinances by design make it physically impossible for homeless people to live in Grants Pass without facing endless fines and jail time," Kelsi Corkran, a lawyer arguing against the ban, told the Supreme Court on Monday.
Corkran added that the ban turns "the city's homelessness problem into someone else's problem by forcing its homeless residents into other jurisdictions."
Theane Evangelis, lawyer for Grants Pass, defended the city's punishments as "not in any way unusual."
"This court should reverse and end the Ninth Circuit's failed experiment," Evangelis told the justices, referring to the appellate court which in 2022 blocked the city's regulations.
Evangelis said the 2022 ruling had "fueled the spread of encampments while harming those it purports to protect."
Grants Pass, population 40,000, does not have a municipal homeless shelter and instead relies on private charities.
Asked by Chief Justice John Roberts what the city would do if its appeal failed at the Supreme Court, Evangelis said its "hands will be tied."
"It will be forced to surrender its public spaces," she added.
Roberts said that the city's ban was not necessarily a criminalization of homeless "status" since this could change, and instead was about "conduct."
"You can remove the homeless status in an instant if you move to a shelter or situations otherwise change and of course it can be moved the other way as well if you're kicked out of the shelter," Roberts said.
Elena Kagan, one of three liberal justices on the conservative-dominated bench, reproached the city authorities for criminalizing a "biological necessity."
"You could say breathing is conduct too, but presumably, you would not think that it's okay to criminalize breathing in public. And for a homeless person who has no place to go, sleeping in public is kind of like breathing in public."
In addition to poverty, drug addiction and a lack of shelter beds propelling homelessness, economists argue the country's market-rate housing stock is woefully behind target -- leaving the United States short of millions of homes needed to meet demand and increasing prices for existing housing.
P.Silva--AMWN