US Supreme Court weighs ban on homeless people sleeping outside

The US Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on whether cities can ban homeless people from sleeping outside, as the country grapples with increasing rates of Americans living on the streets and a lack of shelter beds.

The case centres around laws in the city of Grants Pass, in the western state of Oregon, which banned camping or using any kind of bedding on public property as tents, blankets and cardboard filled its public parks.

Homeless advocates have argued that banning people from camping when there is nowhere else to sleep amounts to "cruel and unusual punishment" -- prohibited by the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment. The Ninth Circuit Court agreed in a 2022 ruling, which is now being appealed to the country's high court.

The ruling from the nine justices will carry high stakes, with a record 653,100 people homeless across the country according to a 2023 count, as cities struggle to manage poverty, mental health issues, addiction and housing shortages.

Cities across the country use camping bans to sweep homeless people out of parks and other public property.

"The cruel and unusual punishments clause governs which punishments are permitted, not what conduct can be prohibited," Grants Pass's lawyer Theane Evangelis said in oral arguments.

"This court should reverse and end the Ninth Circuit's failed experiment, which has fueled the spread of encampments while harming those it purports to protect."

Grants Pass, population 40,000, does not have a municipal homeless shelter and instead relies on private charities.

In addition to poverty, drug addiction and a lack of shelter beds propelling homelessness, economists argue the country's market-rate housing stock is woefully behind target -- leaving the United States short of millions of homes needed to meet demand and increasing prices for existing housing.