ANDThe Supreme Court of the United States ratified this Friday the legality of a measure of a small city in Oregon that fines people for sleeping with blankets outdoors and camping with any type of bedding in public spaces, a rule directed against homeless people.
According to the criteria of
With 6 votes in favor and 3 against, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal of unconstitutionality against the law and demonstrated that Homelessness is not covered by the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
The ruling is a response to the case ‘Grants Pass v. Johnson’, in which a group of homeless people challenged the laws of the city of Grants Pass (Oregon) in this area.
To request unconstitutionality, these people relied on the eighth amendment of the Constitution, which states that excessive fines shall not be imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
(FILE) Tents for homeless people are seen on a sidewalk in Skid Row on August 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, California, where homelessness has seen a 10 percent increase compared to last year.
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Also to a 1962 Supreme Court ruling that stipulated that it is not a crime to be a narcotics addict, attempting to draw an analogy between homelessness and drug addiction and claiming that both are statuses for which citizens cannot be punished.
The court’s decision was marked by the ideological differences between its members: “Sleeping is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping on the street is their only option,” progressive judge Sonia Sotomayor, who noted in the ruling, was supported by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Sotomayor indicates that The City of Grants Pass “jails and fines such individuals for sleeping in any public place at any time, including in their cars”something he describes as “unacceptable and unconstitutional.”
In 2023, the number of homeless people in the country increased by 12%, and it is estimated that there are more than 650,000
In contrast, Judge Neil Gorsuch asserts in the ruling that “homelessness” is complex and that “a handful of federal judges cannot begin to match the collective wisdom that the American people possess in deciding the best way to handle an issue.” pressing social situation like this”.
This ruling opens the possibility of changing the way cities and states police homelessness, a pressing problem in the United States.
According to the latest official data, in 2023 the number of homeless people in the country increased by 12%, and it is estimated that there are more than 650,000.
Additionally, there are about 171,000 homeless people in California alone, This is 40,000 more than six years ago, representing almost a third of the total homeless population in the country, local media reported.
Green light for emergency abortions in Idaho
This Thursday, the Supreme Court also decided to temporarily allow abortions in medical emergencies in the state of Idaho to protect the life and health of the mother.
The Court, with a conservative majority, formally dismissed an appeal over Idaho’s strict abortion ban by 6-3, although the central issues of the case were not considered.
The document was published a day after it was briefly posted by mistake on the Supreme Court’s website and published by a news agency.
The decision therefore reestablishes a lower court ruling that temporarily allowed state hospitals to perform emergency abortions.
Pro-abortion protesters gather in front of the US Supreme Court, in Washington DC, US, June 28, 2024.
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