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Homeless in the Land of the Free: America’s Irony
Supreme Court’s Deliberation on Homelessness: A Reflection of Historical Exclusion
We all worry about being homeless due to some misfortune in life. I worry about the Supreme Court we now have. In the shadow of landmark decisions such as Roe v. Wade and affirmative action, the United States Supreme Court’s readiness to hear a case on the criminalization of homelessness reveals a stark and troubling continuity in its jurisprudence — a tendency towards decisions that often lack fundamental humanity.
This inclination is particularly evident in the Court’s conservative majority, which many argue was strategically assembled to safeguard the interests and desires of affluent white men. The case in question, emanating from Grants Pass, Oregon, challenges ordinances that penalize homeless individuals for sleeping in public spaces. This scenario not only lays bare the nation’s ongoing struggle with homelessness but also echoes historical legislation designed to oppress the economically disenfranchised.
The United States, a nation where prisons brim over capacity and where there’s a palpable societal resistance to the expansion of private prisons — yet another enterprise enriching the wealthy at the expense of the working class — stands at a crossroads. The…
