Today, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could determine how cities deal with homelessness. A Southwester Oregon City appealed to the Supreme court after a federal appellate court sided with the people who sued back in 2018, Abby Davis joins us now and Abby, if the justices rule in favor of the city, they would overturn a precedent set in a landmark city of trees case. Right, Brian. That case, Martin V Boise made it illegal to punish a person sleeping outside if there isn't room at shelters. Grants pass, Oregon decided it would do that anyway, which is why we're here today. The city banned camping and sleeping bags on public property. They also started ticketing people who broke that law. The US Supreme Court will decide whether those rules are cruel and unusual punishment under the constitution. During nearly 2.5 hours of arguments. Justices raised questions about where people who are homeless are supposed to go. They also debated whether it should even be their decision. Where do we put them? If every city, every village, every town lacks compassion and he passes a law identical to this, where are they supposed to sleep. We usually think about whether state law, local law already um already achieves those purposes so that the federal courts aren't micromanaging homeless policy. Martin V. Boise, Lawyer, Howard Bead Off says if the Supreme Court rules in favor of grants pass, Boise would not be affected. That's because of a previous settlement stating Boise can't cite a homeless person sleeping outside if there's no shelter space available. It off says other cities in Idaho and throughout the country could do what they want. On the other hand, if the court rules against the city, he says every state would have to follow Martin because right now it's just the ninth circuit which covers the west coast and the justices Brian are expected to decide the case by the end of June. Some of that discussion today was whether this was a status issue or a conduct issues, right? You have to wait until the end of June to find out what they decide. Thank you very much Abby.
