Is ticketing homeless people a cruel and unusual punishment?
The question has confounded western cities. The Supreme Court will weigh in
IN 2013 local leaders in Grants Pass, Oregon, held a meeting to brainstorm ideas for how to tackle the city’s growing “vagrancy problem”. A record of that meeting states that participants suggested “driving repeat offenders out of town and leaving them there”, and buying homeless people a bus ticket to anywhere else. “The point”, said Lily Morgan, a city-council member, “is to make it uncomfortable enough for them in our city so they will want to move on down the road.”
Explore more
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Sleeping rough”
United States April 20th 2024
- Donald Trump’s first criminal trial will be both momentous and tawdry
- America’s trust in its institutions has collapsed
- Is ticketing homeless people a cruel and unusual punishment?
- The White House unveils a pair of bad policies to woo voters
- Lots of state legislators believe any contact with fentanyl is fatal
- How two small Texas towns became the patent-law centre of America
- Truth Social is a mind-bending win for Donald Trump
Discover more
Donald Trump may find it harder to dominate America’s conversation
A more fragmented media is tougher to manage
An FBI sting operation catches Jackson’s mayor taking big bribes
What the sensational undoing of the black leader means for Mississippi’s failing capital
America’s rural-urban divide nurtures wannabe state-splitters
What’s behind a new wave of secessionism
Does Donald Trump have unlimited authority to impose tariffs?
Yes, but other factors could hold him back
As Jack Smith exits, Donald Trump’s allies hint at retribution
The president-elect hopes to hand the Justice Department to loyalists
Democratic states are preparing for Donald Trump’s return
But Mr Trump will be more prepared, too