Supreme Court gives cities more power to ban homeless camps

The Supreme Court on Friday sided with an Oregon town’s law that bans homeless people from sleeping outdoors, a decision that holds major implications for other municipalities to do the same.

The majority 6-3 majority opinion by Justice Neil Gorsuch held that the enforcement of generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. The questions surrounded a ban on camping in public in Grants Pass, Oregon, and the ruling is likely to have major implications for how states such as California can regulate the homelessness crisis.