The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a case out of Southern Oregon that could make sweeping policy changes to the way cities address homelessness and enforce rules around public camping.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a case out of Southern Oregon that could make sweeping policy changes to the way cities address homelessness and enforce rules around public camping.

In 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Grants Pass from enforcing public camping ordinances through fines, saying it violated the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. That ruling built off a 2019 decision out of Boise, Idaho, where the same court found a person cannot be criminally punished for sleeping in public if there’s nowhere else for them to go.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240116133347/https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/12/us-supreme-court-takes-grants-pass-oregon-case-homeless-policies/

  • Too Lazy Didn't Name@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    10 months ago

    What about a 5% of your total wealth fine rounded down to the nearest $100 (if we could accurately find and report the wealth of individuals).

    Houseless people would get a big fat $0 fine and that rich fucker who could usually just write the fee off as an incidental would be hurting.

    • workerONE@lemmy.world
      4·
      10 months ago

      So if you have $25,000 paid into a car loan but no liquid assets the government forces the sale of your car to collect their $1,250. Maybe they sell it fast for less than it’s worth. Now you have no car and lost a great deal of money.

      Maybe your wealth is in your home.

      You think camping without a permit warrants taking 5% of everything you have? That’s insanity. What if you do it twice? What other offences might you also want to collect 5% for? Littering or jaywalking? Smoking?

      Let’s say you have $1000 in the bank and nothing else. The government wants their $50 but you don’t pay because you need that money. Now you have to pay a late fee or something, probably get arrested and put in front of a judge, spend time in jail for not paying?

      That’s not the way