Homeless camping ban upheld by Supreme Court in Grants Pass case | KTVU

>> Thank you. Rosemary. We'll update some breaking news here. Coming from the U.S. Supreme Court, the High Court today ruled cities can legally remove homeless encampments from public areas. This case originated from Oregon and is expected to have a sizable impact here in California. Katie Rasmus has been busy in the newsroom. You've been examining the ruling and gathering reaction to it. >> That's right. Garcia, this ruling will have a big impact on communities across our state because according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are more than 181,000 unhoused people living in California, up nearly 40% from five years ago. Unhoused residents here in our state make up nearly a third of the US homeless population. Now, this case all started in Grants Pass, Oregon. That city had passed a law that said people who camp on city streets could be subject to citations, fines and ultimately removal from those public spaces. Advocates for people who are homeless there sued, saying that the law amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the Eighth Amendment because it would criminalize sleeping a basic human need. Grants pass attorneys argued, though, that cruel and unusual punishment applies to things like torture and hard labor, not tickets for camping in public spaces. The US Supreme Court justices ruled in Grants Pass favor. They ruled 6 to 3 that cities can enforce laws regulating camping on public properties. Now, the reaction from Bay area nonprofits like the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco is one of extreme disappointment to this supreme Court ruling. I spoke with the group's executive director just minutes ago, and she told me, quote, we cannot criminalize homelessness. The solution is more affordable housing, end quote. And we'll have her interview coming up in the next half hour of mornings on two. But in the meantime, conservatives just conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for the six three majority. He said that this is essentially a matter of local control, saying in part, quote, people will disagree over which policy responses are best. But in our democracy, that is their right. A handful of federal judges can't begin to match the collective wisdom the American people possess in deciding how best to handle a pressing social question like homelessness. End quote. Now we're working to learn how this ruling may affect Bay area cities and their policies and handling homeless encampments. We did just minutes ago. Get a statement from San Francisco Mayor London Breed office. She said. This decision will help cities like hers manage public spaces better, as well as giving the city more flexibility to address the challenges on the street. We are also waiting from a statement from Governor Gavin Newsom. He supported the City of Grants Pass position, and his office filed an amicus brief on behalf of it with the Supreme Court. So we are waiting to hear back from the governor in his reaction

Channel: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco

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Id: heQTIwpOwzI

Length: 2min 39sec (159 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 28 2024