Supreme Court Poised to Allow No-Camping Laws, but Will Liberal Cities Enforce Them?

People pass homeless individuals in Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan. 11, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Commentary

California and other west coast states have experienced a homeless explosion over the past decade. It’s primarily attributable to one thing: Cities stopped enforcing laws prohibiting overnight camping. This was in response to a Ninth Circuit ruling which found such laws constituted “cruel and unusual” punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In a hearing this week, the majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared ready to overturn that ruling. But this is unlikely to solve the homeless crisis created by the Ninth Circuit. It turns out that most liberal west coast cities agree with the Ninth Circuit. Thus, even if it’s overturned, they are unlikely to begin enforcing such laws again. While the Supreme Court ruling would permit enforcing such laws, it would not require it.

The left has now fully embraced allowing camping in public spaces. The Biden Administration argued in the case that laws prohibiting it violate the Eight Amendment. All three liberal justices indicated at the hearing that they agree, believing the U.S. Constitution prevents cities from banning sleeping on sidewalks, benches, at bus stops, parks, beaches, or any other public property, unless those cities provide sufficient free government housing.

The justices argue that being homeless is a “status,” and cities cannot criminalize your mere status. Justice Elena Kagan asked at the hearing whether cities should also be allowed to ban breathing or eating in public, since these are as essential to life as sleeping. “Sleeping is a biological necessity,” Justice Kagan said. “It’s sort of like breathing. I mean, you could say breathing is conduct, too. But, presumably, you would not think that it’s OK to criminalize breathing in public, and for a homeless person who has no place to go, sleeping in public is kind of like breathing in public.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, asked, “Where are they supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves not sleeping?”

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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson tried to put an even finer point on it, asking whether it would simply be ok for cities to kill homeless people?!

They failed to note that humans must also defecate as part of living. Presumably the Biden Administration and these justices would also bar cities from prohibiting that occurring anywhere. This is the mindset and logic of the left. We have already seen that in practice in San Francisco, home of the infamous “poop map” which tracks human feces around the city.

Despite these concerns, somehow the United States and its people have managed to survive and thrive for over 230 years with no-camping laws in most cities. And the laws persisted despite the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment being in effect the entire time.

The Ninth Circuit ruling invented two radically new interpretations of the Eighth Amendment. First, that its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment applies not just to sentences imposed for crimes, but to the criminal law itself. Second, it requires that cities provide housing for all homeless before enforcing laws to protect the safety, security, and cleanliness of public spaces. This effectively creates a constitutional right to housing, a progressive’s dream previously thought achievable only through a constitutional amendment.

This is now a mantra of the homeless advocacy groups: People have a “right” to housing. These same people believe they also have a “right” to food, employment, and healthcare, all provided by the government. These rights are simply not in the Constitution. They only exist in the Communist Manifesto.

America’s leading socialist, Bernie Sanders, is fond of saying America is the richest country in the world, yet is the only major industrialized country which does not provide free health care to all its people. But he fails to connect the dots. We are the richest country in the world, because we do not do stupid things like provide government health care and housing for all!

The justices ask what are the homeless to do if they cannot sleep in any public place of their choosing? The answer: They would have found somewhere else to sleep. This may mean getting a job and finding an apartment. Or it may mean staying at a friend’s or family member’s house. Or finding a public shelter or a rehab clinic. It may mean going to a local church for help. If they choose none of the above and slept on the sidewalk, then they may wind up in jail but would at least have a roof over their head and three meals a day. If they had an alcohol or drug problem, jail serves as a good place to get sober.

The cause of California’s homeless crisis is simple, though the left would like you to think otherwise. They blame it on a capitalist system they allege has resulted in a lack of affordable housing or shelters for the homeless, landlords unfairly evicting tenants, unfair rent increases, inadequate welfare, and, for good measure, racism. They use the homeless crisis as an excuse to implement their socialist dream policies, like government housing, rent control, eviction moratoriums and protections, and reparations.

The inconvenient truth, however, is that the homeless crisis was created because cities began allowing sleeping on sidewalks, beaches, and parks, as well as setting up sleeping bags, tents, and full-fledged encampments containing all of their possessions. If you allow it, they will come. The U.S. has been welcoming illegal immigrants into the country since President Joe Biden took office, and, surprise, about 10 million have come. By not enforcing their laws, these cities have invited people from all over the country to pitch a tent with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.

A California government audit recently revealed that the state has spent over $24 billion to address homelessness since the ruling, but there is virtually no evidence that it has stemmed the problem. That is because as long as you allow it, your homeless population will grow. And the more money you throw at it, the more they will come. Hence, California has more homeless today than when it began spending the $24 billion.

Allowing people to sleep outside exacerbates the problem. People’s minor issues become major ones. They fall deeper into addiction and drop further out of society. Their mental and physical health further deteriorates. When you allow it, people come from all the places which do not allow it. San Francisco provides such a hospitable environment that the vast majority of their “homeless” come from other places. The city provides free needles and pipes, easy access to drugs, and promises not to disrupt their sleep or drug taking.

California now has half of the country’s unsheltered homeless, at least 180,000 people by a recent count. A Supreme Court ruling overturning the Ninth Circuit is essential to ensuring that states and cities across the U.S. are not hamstrung by this strained interpretation of the Eighth Amendment. But it is unlikely to help my city of Los Angeles, where the 15-member city council does not have a single Republican, the mayor is Karen Bass, the district attorney is George Gascon, and Democrats hold super-majorities in the state senate and assembly and hold every statewide office.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.