The Catholic Message Board

The U.S. bishops strongly condemned the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling in a pivotal homelessness case, calling the court’s decision “a direct contradiction of our call to shelter those experiencing homelessness and care for those in need.”

In the 6-3 decision, issued in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Gloria Johnson, the court ruled that cities can arrest or fine homeless individuals for camping in public spaces.

Writing on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Borys Gudziak, head of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said that “ticketing and arresting people for it [being homeless] is a counterproductive approach to the problem of homelessness” and that “criminalizing homeless is not the response to caring for those in need.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, said that though homelessness is a complex issue, the courts have no right to interfere with local communities’ attempts to solve it.

The decision reversed a 9th Circuit Court’s ruling that had said fining and imprisoning homeless individuals for camping in public spaces qualified as cruel and unusual punishment for an involuntary condition, something prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

Gorsuch said the Eighth Amendment “serves many important functions, but it does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people and in their place dictate this nation’s homelessness policy.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news ... melessness

Would someone be able to explain Gorsuch's reasoning here. I don't get it?

His reasoning is saying, "It's not our job to do your job". It's simply throwing it back to the state and local communities, which is where it belongs. Not a federal court responsibility.

The actual ruling is here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/2 ... 5_19m2.pdf

Homelessness is a huge, complex issue.

My town has a population of 38K, it is a tourist town, our homeless population is around 700 based on the most recent data. We have a men's shelter which allows men to stay 10 days each month. They must be sober, have no violent criminal actions on their record, no serious medical issues. Their capacity is around 50 men.

We have NO homeless shelter for women or families. The nearest is 70 miles away. One is "on the books", however, they are trying to move to be strictly a rehab facility because, frankly, the money is better. There is a facility for children, however, most parents do not want to simply hand their kids over to "the system".

NO ONE wants a shelter to be in their neighborhood, the powers that be do not want it near any "tourist areas".

We have people die from heat and from cold every year, they live out in the woods in camps or alone, if they dared sleep in a park our cops would roust them period.

There is no one, simple, efficient and humane option. Sending this back to the local communities is the best, and someone in every community needs to be finding real solutions.

I am simply amazed by this community and think it would be a model for other towns:

https://mlf.org/community-first/