Advocates of a common sense approach to homelessness are pleased with Friday’s United States Supreme Court decision which allows local jurisdictions to again impose a ban on camping in order to stop large homeless encampments from being constructed on public property.

Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, who has been locked in a battle with King County Executive Dow Constantine over having county sheriff officers enforce his city’s ban on camping, was pleased with the court’s decision, “This ruling just shows that Burien has fashioned a framework that prioritizes building housing and getting people into services while also keep spaces free for all. Other cities should follow suit, and the county should learn from our practical and common-sense approach that is compassionate all the same.”

No word yet from Executive Constantine on whether the court’s decision will result in an immediate reversal of his previous orders to sheriff deputies forbidding enforcement of Burien’s ban. The city currently contracts with the sheriff’s department to provide law enforcement. Earlier this year the city passed a ban on overnight camping in public places, but the appointed sheriff in Dow Constintine’s adminstration ordered deputies to not enforce the law, saying she believed it violated federal laws.

The county and city have each filed lawsuits against each other over this issue. It is not immediately known what the SCOTUS decision will have on these lawsuits.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision was on the Grants Pass v Johnson case where the 9^th circuit federal court previously ruled that cities could not ban camping on public property unless it had shelter available for those who were living in the encampments. This ruling, along with Martin v Boise, frustrated many local communities which sought to remove encampments but were prevented from doing so because not enough shelter space was available to provide housing to encampment residents.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch penned the majority’s opinion. He wrote, “Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it,” the justice stated. “A handful of federal judges cannot begin to ‘match’ the collective wisdom the American people possess in deciding ‘how best to handle’ a pressing social question like homelessness.”

Before the court’s ruling, progressive homeless advocates used the Boise and Grants Pass decisions to further their political goals of using the homeless crisis to increase the size and cost of public housing. For example, Executive Constantine has spent nearly a half billion dollars to purchase 15 hotels to provide “low barrier” housing (i.e. do not need to be clean and sober) to King County’s growing homeless population. The 1,300 rooms cost taxpayers more than $333,000 per room.

Yet even communities such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Honolulu joined the court case seeking to overturn the Grants Pass ruling because of the financial burden it placed on their communities, while more people continued to suffer on their streets. In a brief submitted by Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison she wrote that despite the City of Seattle annually spending more than $150 million, “The reality (is) that homeless populations continue to rise.” The court’s decision will provide local communities with more options to tackle the homeless crisis. ChangeWA will continue to cover the stories in the coming weeks and months as many local communities will seek to impose common-sense overnight camping bans.