Judge Sotomayor: Should unhoused people ‘commit suicide’ instead of sleeping outside?

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested that an Oregon city wanted unhoused people to “kill themselves” after the city moved to punish people for sleeping outside.

During oral arguments Monday, Sotomayor told Theane Evangelis, a Grants Pass attorney, that the city’s intent is to “remove every homeless person and not give them a public space to sit down or sleep with a blanket.” lie down and fall asleep. “

“So we think it is harmful for people to live in public spaces, on the streets and in parks, regardless of bedding, if people live in those conditions,” Evangelis responded. “We don’t find that compassionate.”

“Oh, it’s not, but it doesn’t do anything for them to alleviate that situation either,” the justice interrupted. “Where should we put them when every town, every village, every town has no compassion and passes a law identical to this one? Where should they sleep? Should they commit suicide without sleeping?’

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Evangelis argued that she presented a “defense of necessity” and a “complicated policy question.”

“What’s so complicated about letting someone sleep outside somewhere with a blanket if they don’t have a place to sleep?” Sotomayor wondered.

“The laws against defecation, the laws against keeping things around yourself unsanitary, those have all been enforced,” she added. “All this ban does is say that you cannot prevent someone from sleeping in a public place without a blanket.”

Watch the video below.