California Governor Gavin Newsom is supporting the high court appeal by Grants Pass, Oregon, which is experiencing a severe homelessness crisis.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to take up a dispute concerning the right of Western state communities to forbid homeless persons from spending the night in public spaces.
An earlier decision against anti-camping regulations in Grants Pass, Oregon, was rendered by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which argued that the ordinances violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.”
With support from California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state is experiencing a homelessness crisis, Grants Pass appealed the decision.
Nine western states—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington—are covered by the verdict.
In the Grants Pass case, a different 9th circuit panel decided that regulations prohibiting homeless individuals “from using a blanket, pillow, or cardboard box for protection from the elements” shouldn’t be passed by the government.
Steve Garvey, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from California and a 10-time MLB All-Star, stated on Fox News Digital Friday that addressing homelessness had to be “grounded in compassion and practical solutions.”
“Having recently visited homeless shelters in San Diego and Skid Row in Los Angeles, I’ve seen the harsh realities faced by those living on the streets,” Garvey said. “This experience reinforces my belief that while we need to uphold public safety and community standards, our approach to homelessness must be grounded in compassion and practical solutions.”
He claimed his tour to homeless places “started as a personal awakening and has now become a personal commitment to doing everything I can to address this humanitarian crisis.”
The Supreme Court should “take into account the need for humane treatment of the people experiencing homelessness, alongside the enforcement of public ordinances,” Garvey said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“It’s imperative that we find a balance that respects the dignity of all individuals while addressing the broader social and health-related issues contributing to homelessness,” he said.
“California has invested billions to address homelessness, but rulings from the bench have tied the hands of state and local governments to address this issue,” Newsom said in a statement released on Friday.
In September, according to his office, he filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court “to clarify that state and local governments can take reasonable actions to address the homelessness crisis creating health and safety dangers for individuals living in encampments and our communities.”
According to Newsom, “The Supreme Court can now correct course and end the costly delays from lawsuits that have plagued our efforts to clear encampments and deliver services to those in need.”
2018 saw the 9th Circuit rule in a case involving Boise, Idaho, that punishing the people experiencing homelessness for sleeping on the streets in the absence of a shelter would be unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.
“The tragedy is that these decisions are actually harming the very people they purport to protect,” stated Grants Pass attorney Theane Evangelis. This spring, we are excited to bring our case before the Supreme Court.”
According to The Hill, Grants pass contended that permitting homeless people to remain in encampments might result in an uptick in violence, fires, “the reemergence of medieval diseases,” and environmental damage.
However, Ed Johnson, an attorney for the homeless individuals who opposed the Grants Pass regulations, stated, “The question on the Court’s agenda is whether cities have the right to penalize homeless citizens for merely not having access to a place to live. However, in an attempt to divert attention from the public and shift accountability for years of ineffective policy, some politicians and others are cynically and wrongly attributing the homeless situation to the court.”
