Letters to the Editor: Opposing views on the Grants Pass homelessness case at the Supreme Court

To the editor: The U.S. Supreme Court may allow municipalities to crack down on homeless encampments within their jurisdiction. This would effectively make homelessness a crime.

This attitude is nothing new. Nearly 100 years ago, G.K. Chesterton wrote:

"For our law has in it a turn of humor or touch of fancy which Nero or Herod never happened to think of: that of actually punishing homeless people for not sleeping at home."

We live in a culture where we idolize the rich and despise the poor. We penalize the poor not for any particular offense, but simply because they bother our consciences by their very existence.

Francis Pauc, Oak Creek, Wis.

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To the editor: Being homeless is not a crime. Blocking sidewalks, camping in parks (meant for day use), urinating in public, using drugs in public and blocking access to businesses that paid for a license to operate are examples of crimes that must be prosecuted.

Arresting or forcing people to move is not "criminalizing homelessness," as leftists love to say.

Adults using logic live where they can afford. If one cannot afford to live here, move somewhere cheaper.

Many taxpayers, living in the most expensive state for just about everything, resent paying more to support people who do not have the sense to move. I will help my children afford to live here, but not strangers. They have to figure it out themselves.

Benedict Lucchese, Camarillo

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To the editor: The actions of the city of Grants Pass, Ore., are so despicable that it boggles the mind. Overturning its draconian law that essentially bans sleeping outside should be a no-brainer — so it further mystifies why certain members of the court, who are obviously intelligent, can't immediately see and acknowledge this.

Yes, it is definitely uncomfortable to have to see and deal with homeless people. But the discomfort of the homeless far outweighs the discomfort to our sensibilities.

The court should overturn the Grants Pass ordinance. We cannot afford to let our country become a place where all are created equal, unless you are homeless.

Joseph Lombardo, Upland

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To the editor: I wonder where my inability to walk on sidewalks blocked by tents and drug paraphernalia falls when debating basic human rights.

Alison Rood, Sacramento

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.