The Supreme Court could restore sanity to America's homeless crisis

Tired of stepping on needles and human waste and navigating half-conscious addicts and homeless encampments? You are not alone. Decent, hard-working people want clean sidewalks to go to work and take their kids to school.

But cities are legally prohibited from clearing homeless encampments. Lawyers went to court and won rulings, granting the homeless almost unlimited freedom to pitch tents and live in filth, your health and safety be damned.

Here's the good news. On January 12th, the US Supreme Court announced that it will rule on a case challenging this new normal of schizophrenics invading our neighborhoods, squalor, disease and screaming.

The city of Grants Pass, Ore., about 150 miles south of Portland, Ore., is challenging a 2018 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that shields homeless people from any punishment for camping in public property The 9th Circuit, known for its left-leaning jurisprudence, says penalties for sleeping on public property amount to “cruel and unusual punishment.”

This ruling has directly tied the hands of politicians in the city of Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland and other western cities. It has also been cited by courts in the rest of the United States as a reason for tolerating homeless encampments. What the justices decide this spring will affect the entire United States

Homeless advocates say cities are unwilling to spend the money to serve the homeless. Don't fall for this. Across the country, municipalities have increased shelters, but many homeless people flatly refuse to leave the streets.

They choose to sleep “rough” rather than endure the rules and conditions of public shelters. A Portland survey showed that between May 2022 and July 2023, 75% turned down offers of foster care. In 2023 in San Francisco, 54% turned down offers, according to city data.

Homeless people deserve compassion, but allowing them to remain on the streets, where they freeze to death on a sidewalk or succumb to disease, is not compassionate. On average, they are shortening their own lifespans by three decades or more.

Nationally, the proportion of homeless people choosing the streets over public shelters is steadily increasing. Grants Pass litigants tell Court that “time is of the essence.”

“The consequences of inaction are dire…crime, fires, the re-emergence of medieval diseases, environmental damage and record levels of drug overdoses and deaths on public streets.”

Even California Governor Gavin Newsom warns judges that homeless encampments “are dangerous” and pose “immediate threats to health and safety.” Newsom may have political reasons for changing his tune, but his brief to the Court speaks of “significant risks for disease transmission” and “property damage, theft and burglary” near the camps.

SCOTUS will rule no later than June. Expect the courts to overturn the absurd 9th Circuit decision and let municipalities free to restore order and safety to their streets. But the court cannot order them to do so. Ultimately, it will depend on local officials acting on behalf of the peaceful, law-abiding majority.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently bragged about not allowing New York to descend into Los Angeles' Skid Row stature. Holding up a photo of LA and pointing to the filth, she exclaimed: “There are no toilets!” and asked, “Is this what you want your children to see?”

Adams, to his credit, has acted aggressively to involuntarily commit the mentally ill and get them off the streets. But don't count on other New York officials to act so sane.

In June, a bill of rights for the homeless, written by the far-left New York City Council, became law. It explicitly recognizes the right to sleep outdoors. He pits Adams against the bill's sponsor, New York City Attorney Jumaane Williams, who has one eye on Adams' job and would have it temporarily if Adams quits for any reason.

Williams says calling for the camps to be closed is “fear mongering.” Voters take note.

New Yorkers and voters everywhere must elect leaders who will end misery.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chair of the Committee to Reduce Deaths from Infection. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To learn more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and artists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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