WASHINGTON- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear what could be the most important case in its history on the homeless crisis on Monday.
The outcome could determine whether cities in California and the West can enforce their local laws banning camping on sidewalks or other public property.
Homelessness has often been cited as the most intractable problem in Western cities, and it has gotten worse over the past decade.
Since 2007, the states where the number of people “chronically homeless” has increased the most are California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Hawaii, according to the “Annual Homelessness Assessment Report ” published last year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Development.
“California has nearly six in 10 homeless people experiencing chronic patterns of homelessness in the United States,” the report said. HUD reported that the largest decreases in homelessness during this period occurred in two hot states: Texas and Florida.
Experts and advocates disagree on why homelessness is worse in the West. Many emphasize the high cost of housing.
But city and state prosecutors also point out differences between state laws.
The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction covers nine Western states, has recognized constitutional protections for those who are homeless and have no place to sleep. It remains the only federal appeals court in the country to do so.
In a series of decisions, the 9th Circuit held that cities and their police violated the 8th Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment when they arrested or fined people who did not have access to shelter.
The 9th Circuit first invoked this rule in 2006 to protect people sleeping on the sidewalks of Skid Row in Los Angeles, and has since extended this doctrine to strike down anti-camping ordinances in Boise, Idaho, and Grants Pass , Oregon.
The Supreme Court will hear an appeal in Grants Pass v. Johnson on Monday.
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