Allowing the government to fine & imprison people for being #homeless will do nothing to solve the nation’s #homelessness crisis. And it’s astoundingly cruel—as Sotomayor said, these towns seem to want homeless people to just “kill themselves.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/supreme-court-grants-pass-homeless-case.html
@grrlscientist Homelessness bans are not enforceable. Period. These people don’t have money, so fines are worthless. Locking them up? Really? We’ll have jails full of street people on the taxpayer’s dime? Are we going back to debtors’ prisons? I don’t know how SCOTUS will rule on this, but I suspect Grant’s Pass will get the go-ahead to do something punitive. Yes, I agree, those towns would like the homeless among us to just go away - either die or become another town’s problem.
the fundamental human need to sleep has become a poignant symbol of the broader struggle against the criminalization of poverty...
@grrlscientist
Once upon a time, most poor people at least had a place to live. But in the 21st century, the cost of real estate / rentals is so absurd that today there's a a whole class of the poor who are homeless, who can't afford to live somewhere. And the people in charge have no interest in helping them, would rather rather resent them, when the obvious solution is to reduce the cost of rentals.
@grrlscientist Well, you know, they have a negative impact on consumer spending, both by tourists and locals...