Supreme Court to weigh bans on sleeping outdoors amid rising homelessness crisis

The US Supreme Court is currently considering a case regarding whether it is constitutional to punish people for sleeping outdoors. This case is considered significant as it is one of the most notable cases on homelessness to come before the high court in decades. In California and other Western states, courts have previously ruled that fining and arresting individuals living in homeless encampments without adequate shelter space is unconstitutional. Yet, hundreds of advocacy groups argue that allowing cities to punish people for sleeping outside will criminalize homelessness and ultimately worsen the crisis.