Advocates say that will make the crisis worse.
The Supreme Court will review a Ninth Circuit decision protecting unsheltered homelessness.
It bars cities and states from clearing homeless encampments if there's not enough space in shelters.
Some Democrats, including CA Gov. Gavin Newsom, are siding with conservatives on the issue.
The Supreme Court earlier this month announced it would take up the most consequential case dealing with homelessness in decades.
The case comes out of Grants Pass, Oregon, where local officials were prevented from clearing a homeless encampment by a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rulings in Martin v. Boise and Johnson v. Grants Pass requiring local governments to have sufficient shelter beds available before forcing unhoused people off the streets. The appeals court decided in both cases that removing people living on the street without providing alternative shelter violates the Eighth Amendment's protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
State and federal court cases on the legality of clearing homeless encampments reflect a debate between some governments who say they need more authority to protect public safety and address homelessness, and advocates who argue authorities are exacerbating the problem by criminalizing homelessness.
While conservatives have led the charge in pushing to overturn the Ninth Circuit's decision, some Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have also asked the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling, arguing that it makes it difficult or impossible to address the homelessness crisis.
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