Clarence Thomas appears open to making drug addiction illegal

U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas identified a previous ruling that he would like to upend.The conservative majority sided with an Oregon city that prohibited unhoused people from sleeping on public land, and Thomas said in his opinion in the case that he would like to "dispose" of a 1962 ruling that struck down a California law that criminalized being addicted to narcotics, reported Newsweek."In an appropriate case, the Court should certainly correct this error," Thomas wrote.The court relied on that decades-old ruling in Robinson v. California to decide that penalizing homeless people for sleeping on the streets when no other shelter was available did not violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.ALSO READ: ‘This was awful’: Congressional Dems deflated after Biden debate disaster"Rather than criminalize mere status, Grants Pass forbids actions like 'occupy[ing] a campsite' on public property 'for the purpose of maintaining a temporary place to live,'" the ruling read.Thomas argued that Robinson didn't need to be reconsidered to decide City of Grants Pass, Oregon, v. Gloria Johnson, but he signaled he would be wiling to take up a case that challenged that earlier ruling."Rather than let Robinson's erroneous holding linger in the background of our Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, we should dispose of it once and for all," Thomas wrote.

Rubriques :

Clarence Thomas appears open to making drug addiction illegal

Articles similaires

Stunning court reversal means Columbia activist may be rearrested

Stunning court reversal means Columbia activist may be rearrested

'Are you stupid?' Expert says Trump DOJ just 'antagonized' Supreme Court at a crucial time

'Are you stupid?' Expert says Trump DOJ just 'antagonized' Supreme Court at a crucial time

'They don't have an army': Expert warns Trump has 'figured out' how to kill democracy

'They don't have an army': Expert warns Trump has 'figured out' how to kill democracy

Eighth Circuit probes right to counsel in Arkansas bail hearings

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Second Amendment Case Tuesday

The Maduro prosecution and international law: Intersection of sovereignty and accountability

This Supreme Court ruling may doom ICE agent who gunned down Minnesota mom: expert

Les derniers communiqués