As we’ve been reporting, the US Supreme Court heard a hugely important case today on homelessness, and what cities can legally do about it.

The case involves the city of Grants Pass, Oregon but could have major implications for policies here in the Bay Area.

The issue in Grants Pass v Johnson is whether Grants Pass can enforce its ban on camping on public property to police homelessness, or whether it’s unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment to tell people who have no place else to go that they can’t sleep outside. A federal district court sided with the homeless people who sued to overturn the law, and then the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed.

Today the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, and the conservative majority seemed inclined to overturn the lower courts and allow the law to be enforced. Governor Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and many other local officials have urged the court not to handcuff the cities by taking away their power to address homelessness in this way. 

For more, KCBS Radio's Bret Burkhart and Patti Reising are joined by Nisha Kashyap, Program Director for Racial Justice at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.