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submitted 7 months ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world

The scenes were emblematic of the crisis gripping the small, Oregon mountain town of Grants Pass, where a fierce fight over park space has become a battleground for a much larger, national debate on homelessness that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

The town’s case, set to be heard April 22, has broad implications for how not only Grants Pass, but communities nationwide address homelessness, including whether they can fine or jail people for camping in public. It has made the town of 40,000 the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis, and further fueled the debate over how to deal with it.

“I certainly wish this wasn’t what my town was known for,” Mayor Sara Bristol told The Associated Press last month. “It’s not the reason why I became mayor. And yet it has dominated every single thing that I’ve done for the last 3 1/2 years.”

Officials across the political spectrum — from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, which has nearly 30% of the nation’s homeless population, to a group of 22 conservative-led states — have filed briefs in the case, saying lower court rulings have hamstrung their ability to deal with encampments.

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[-] Neato@ttrpg.network 122 points 7 months ago

What the fuck? They're homeless. Sleeping outside is their only option. Shelters are often dangerous, very restrictive on who they let in and there aren't anywhere near enough of them in the places they need to be.

Sleeping in public places isn't a fucking crime. It's not like they'd choose the park over an apartment if they had one.

[-] PoopDelivery@sh.itjust.works 73 points 7 months ago

Yes, but if it's criminalized you get to remove the eyesore of struggling poor people with the added benefit of fines and imprisonment.

[-] teft@lemmy.world 70 points 7 months ago

Also prisoners are slave labor thanks to the 13th amendment so if you can take people off the street and chuck them in jail, you get free labor. Yay capitalism. /s

[-] dojan@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Slavery is a great way to maximise profits! Who cares about humans? If you just reduce them to numbers in your excel sheets it gets a lot easier to do maths with them!

Humanity just never changes, does it? Are we doomed to be forever despicable?

[-] Emtity_13@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 7 months ago

History whould suggest yes

[-] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

How effective do they expect fining homeless people to be?

[-] PoopDelivery@sh.itjust.works 16 points 7 months ago

Can't pay the fine, believe it or not, jail.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

Extremely effective. It's not about housing them...

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this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2024
318 points (100.0% liked)

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