Did Healey know it was coming?
Jun. 28th, 2024 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauradi7dwSCOTUS has come down on the cruelty side in Grants Pass v Johnson, saying that homeless people don't have a right to sleep in public. I'm simplifying, because as mentioned yesterday, I am not a lawyer.
The vote was 6-3 (of course).
From Sotomayor's dissent:
"Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option. The City of Grants Pass jails and fines those people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow. For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and un-constitutional. Punishing people for their status is "cruel and unusual" under the Eighth Amendment."
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
This was just after Governor Healey announced that sleeping overnight at Logan Airport will no longer be allowed, as of July 9th. People will be scooped up (not the way she phrased it) and taken to the new shelter in Norfolk. There's a church group that has been offering day shelter and meals for the folks who sleep at the airport. I don't remember any details, not unusual for me. I meant to send them money.
What about the people who sleep overnight because they've missed a flight and are waiting for the next one in the morning? I bet there will be some sort of "treat the tourists better" arrangement.
The vote was 6-3 (of course).
From Sotomayor's dissent:
"Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option. The City of Grants Pass jails and fines those people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow. For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and un-constitutional. Punishing people for their status is "cruel and unusual" under the Eighth Amendment."
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
This was just after Governor Healey announced that sleeping overnight at Logan Airport will no longer be allowed, as of July 9th. People will be scooped up (not the way she phrased it) and taken to the new shelter in Norfolk. There's a church group that has been offering day shelter and meals for the folks who sleep at the airport. I don't remember any details, not unusual for me. I meant to send them money.
What about the people who sleep overnight because they've missed a flight and are waiting for the next one in the morning? I bet there will be some sort of "treat the tourists better" arrangement.
