The 6-3 ruling, divided along ideological lines, comes as a rising number of people in the U.S. don’t have a permanent place to live.
Activists demonstrate at the Supreme Court as the justices were considering whether punishing people for sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking amounts to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment, in Washington, April 22, 2024. WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court decided on Friday that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors, even in West Coast areas where shelter space is lacking.
He suggested that people who have no choice but to sleep outdoors could raise that as a “necessity defense” if they are ticketed or otherwise punished for violating a camping ban.A bipartisan group of leaders had argued the ruling against the bans made it harder to manage outdoor encampments encroaching on sidewalks and other public spaces in nine Western states. That includes California, home to one-third of the country’s homeless population.
Homeless advocates, on the other hand, said allowing cities to punish people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness and ultimately make the crisis worse. Cities had been allowed to regulate encampments but couldn’t bar people from sleeping outdoors.“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, reading from the bench a dissent joined by her liberal colleagues.
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