The left-wing 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled once again that police cannot order the homeless off the streets. The court always rules the same way. The latest battle is over Oregon City Grants Pass.
Most of the homeless are mentally ill and/or drug addicts. They’re dangerous, and they leave a lot of filth, relieving themselves wherever they please. Police have been ordering them off the streets, but they can no longer do it.
In Oregon, the homeless can sue for up to $1,000 if they feel harassed.
CBS Report
“We are having a situation where the police were telling homeless people that they couldn’t sleep in public or private, and private property,” said Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol. “And eventually, that kind of boiled down to homeless people feeling like they couldn’t find a place to rest where they weren’t being harassed.”
Bristol said the ruling highlights deep political divisions in her city and county. There are currently a few solutions on the table.
“There’s been so much discussion and controversy in the community that we’re kind of at a standstill about what to do about it,” said Bristol.
This court has dictated Los Angeles’ response to the homeless crisis for years. The city was forced to accept encampment because of a staggering shortage of shelters.
But the court was more divided on this case than ever with a growing number of judges appointed by former President Donald Trump lashing out. They claimed the homeless, by occupying public space, are destroying the quality of life in many cities.
“Homelessness is presently the defining public health and safety crisis in the western United States,” wrote conservative Judge Milan Smith Jr. “There are stretches of (Los Angeles) where one cannot help but think the government has shirked its most basic responsibilities under the social contract: providing public safety and ensuring that public spaces remain open to all.”
There is a solution. Don’t make them move because they are homeless. Make them abide by the law as they do anyone else. If they aren’t allowed to urinate in the streets, arrest them. If they attack or menace anyone, arrest them and keep them in prison for repeat offenses. Definitely don’t allow them to inject drugs in public.
Go back to law enforcement. Victims matter.
The homeless are a big problem in most major cities. What do you do with them? They need to be placed somewhere. Nobody seems to have a solution.