In 2022, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that governments, local to federal, could not in any way prohibit homeless people from camping in public spaces if they had nowhere else to go.
The ruling only applied to the nine states within its jurisdiction.
However, not all the states under its jurisdiction have a $17.5 billion homeless industrial complex like California. In fact, many of them would prefer not to have homeless people camping on their public sidewalks or in front of city hall.
Most sane towns and counties have ordinances against vagrancy, including fines and jail time for violations.
The case itself revolves around such an ordinance in Grants Pass, Oregon, that issued steep fines for camping in public spaces.
"The ordinances in question bar sleeping or camping on publicly owned property including sidewalks, streets, bridges and city parks. Punishment can include fines of up to several hundred dollars and exclusion orders barring people from public property."
A group of homeless people lawyered up and sued for the right to squat wherever they wanted.
Their lawyers said,
The city's plan is to "drive its homeless residents into neighboring jurisdictions by making it impossible for them to live in Grants Pass without facing civil and criminal penalties."
Homeless people are being punished for "simply existing,"
The ninth court ruled that the ordinances were a violation of the eighth amendment's "cruel and unusual punishment."
In 2019, the Supreme Court refused to hear a similar court case in Idaho that resulted in anti-homeless ordinances being struck down in that state.
Though the Supreme Court taking up this case will undoubtedly affect the results of that case, the Oregon case, and homeless appeals across the nation. If they uphold the ninth court decision and support their view of the eighth amendment, we may see homeless camps become the norm across the nation.
Better buy your tents now while you can, while they're still affordable.
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