Boise Rescue Mission weighs in on recent U.S. Supreme Court homelessness ruling

Idaho Matters

FILE - In the Sept. 21, 2017, file photo, tucked in a sleeping bag, Danny, a 60-year-old homeless man who only gave his first name, lies on an overpass above the 101 Freeway, one of the nation's busiest freeways, in Los Angeles. A federal appellate court says cities can't prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go. In a ruling handed down Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with six homeless Boise, Idaho residents who sued the city in 2009 alleging that a local ordinance that bans sleeping on the streets amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling could impact several other cities across the western U.S. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)(Jae C. Hong / AP)

Last week, we told you it’s legal again to give someone a ticket for sleeping or camping on public property. This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Grants Pass vs. Johnson case.

The city of Oregon wanted to fine people sleeping in public parks and possibly put them in jail if they refused to comply, and the court said that was not "cruel and unusual" punishment.

This case has its roots in Boise, and Mayor Lauren McLean came out against the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying criminalizing homelessness won’t solve the problem.

Last Monday, we talked to the head of Interfaith Sanctuary about the case, and today we wanted to hear from Reverend Bill Roscoe. He’s the president and CEO of Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, which has emergency shelters in Boise and Nampa.