US Supreme Court allows cities to ban homeless camps https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj774nxrpy7o By Samantha Granville, The US Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-3 vote along ideological lines that cities can ban homeless people from sleeping rough.
It is the court's most significant decision on homelessness since at least the 1980s, when many experts say the modern US homeless crisis began. The ruling says that local governments can enforce laws against people sleeping in public places without being in violation of the US constitution's limits on cruel and unusual punishment.
Comment on WA: I suppose the saving grace is the part which says " without being in violation of the US constitution's limits ".. Note the words "without being" rather than "provided that".. I suppose we can expect such an enabling legislation to to be brought in in India. And given the new laws which have come into force from today, the dark clouds abound! As it is, Olga Tellis has been diluted by work arounds by the administration, the police and the bulldozer backed up by hate propaganda.
Homelessness is on the rise in the US, fuelled in part by chronic shortages of affordable housing. Around 653,000 people did not have homes in 2023, the largest number since tracking began in 2007, according to US government figures.
There were also an estimated 256,000 people living without shelter on a given night across the country last year, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.