by Natalie Hanson
posted June 28
The country’s highest court dropped a landmark decision on the question of civil rights for America’s unhoused people today.
In a decision that many attorneys and activists had predicted, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that cities enforcing anti-camping laws are not committing cruel and unusual punishment during evictions of unhoused people. It remanded the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson case back to the lower courts with a ruling that could affect policy in cities like Chico.
“We are reviewing the legal aspects of the opinion and how those legal aspects may apply to the City of Chico …,” said City Manager Mark Sorensen in a statement released this afternoon. “The City Council will be considering options and will provide direction as to next steps.”