Supreme Court Justice Asks If City Can Kill Homeless People – By Suzanne Blake (Newsweek) / April 22, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, during oral arguments in a homelessness case on Monday, asked if cities would be permitted to kill homeless people.
The Gloria Johnson v. Grants Pass case focuses on whether homeless people have a right to sleep outside. The Oregon city was sued by homeless people who said the government illegally banned sleeping bags, blankets, pillows and cardboard boxes to prevent them from sleeping on the streets, even as no other space or shelter was available.
In September 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals deemed the local law outlawing sleeping bags and other materials to be “cruel and unusual punishment” and therefore was in violation of the Constitution.
Brown Jackson asked attorney Theane D. Evangelis, who is representing Grants Pass, what the legal implications would be if the city decided to execute homeless people. Evangelis said it would be found to be “cruel and unusual punishment.”
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