The Supreme Court agreed last week to hear a case that began when a group of homeless people in Oregon sued their city for prohibiting them from camping on public land.
The plaintiffs have argued that prohibitions on homelessness encampments in public spaces violate the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with them.
This may sound like a policy idea right at home in progressive politics, but it is in fact the Democratic governors of California and Oregon who are urging the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court decision and allow for the removal of homeless encampments that have become a common sight in most major cities.
The governors are upset that the court rulings have hamstrung the ability of cities to clear these encampments and want the court to rule against the plaintiffs.
“The Supreme Court can now correct course and end the costly delays from lawsuits that have plagued our efforts to clear encampments and deliver services to those in need,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said in a statement after the court agreed to hear the case.
Newsom and his compatriots are asking the Supreme Court for permission to clean up a mess they created in the first place.
Progressive housing policies have made home ownership and even renting an apartment in most big cities a near-impossible task for someone earning a standard, middle-class income.
For instance, the average rent in San Francisco is nearly $3,300 a month, or nearly $40,000 a year. In Los Angeles, the average rent is only slightly lower, at $2,800 a month.
Coincidentally, both cities have seen an explosion of homelessness and homeless encampments, creating a crisis that made the issue the most significant one of the 2022 LA mayoral election.
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The West Coast is in this position because of its own policies. Onerous zoning laws and excessive building regulations preventing the building of new homes, along with a laissez-faire attitude to common crimes, created the circumstances that allowed for homeless encampments to become standard landmarks in most cities.
The Supreme Court should rule in favor of the state and city governments, but the policies that made homelessness a widespread issue are the fault of the very people asking the court to clean up their mess. A court ruling won’t change that.