According to the reaffirmed decision of the Ninth Circuit Courts, many cities like St. Louis could soon be sued for violating the constitution when tearing down encampments without providing the homeless with adequate shelter. For now it’s not against the constitution when we tear down encampments in St. Louis, but it is against the United States Constitution out west.
The Ninth Circuit Courts for the western United States refuses to let cities and towns force the homeless off of the streets or tear down their encampments unless those communities provide shelter for them. And by not providing shelter for all homeless people in these western cities violate the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution that protects people from cruel and unusual punishment.
So, in St. Louis, it is just a matter of time when tearing down tents and forcing the homeless to move without providing shelter could be ruled as unconstitutional. The US Constitution protects people from cruel and unusual punishment. That said, tearing ones home down with a bulldozer and throwing all of their belongings away justifies as cruel.
