a case before the United States Supreme Court today could have sweeping implications for cities across the us including in New Jersey as justices wrestle with a set of Oregon laws that ban camping on public property like streets and sidewalks benches and town Parks all in order to curb homelessness there the high court will decide if arresting the unhoused violates the Constitution's eth Amendment which bars cruel and unusual punishment or whether being homeless constitutes a crime Ted Goldberg reports from a rally in Newark how handcuff how handcuff as the Supreme Court heard arguments about whether cities like Grants Pass Oregon can fine or arrest people for sleeping outside protesters rallied against those kind of laws here in Newark the outcome will determine whether the United States will be a country that fines or arrests people for experiencing homelessness or a country that invests in Solutions the case before The Supreme Court was brought by two homeless people claiming removing fining or arresting the homeless from the streets was a form of cruel or unusual punishment we know what works we know what success looks like it's not Lo locking people up it's not finding them Advocates spoke in Harriet Tubman Square in Newark a city that has drastically reduced homelessness according to State data without finding people or throwing them in jail this is a city that has seen a reduction in unsheltered homelessness of 57.6% because of the work that is being done in Newark any way to avoid negative interaction with police and the community is important in this case uh being homeless is not something that may end up in a negative reaction is if they don't have enough challenges to get out of that cycle of homelessness and poverty now you're going to add a criminal record onto that making it more difficult for them to get housing making it more difficult for them to get jobs and having a job isn't always enough to avoid homelessness I know what it feels like to sleep in Pen Station I know what it feels like to get kicked out Kesha Lu Allen was one of today's speakers who hasn't been able to find a place to stay sometimes shelters don't have room and other times affordable housing Isn't So affordable so even though we say okay okay we give you affordable housing how affordable is it because then the landlords can say well we don't want to take you experiencing being homeless out on the street and then having to go to certain people houses and you got to leave when they leave oh God it helps but will it be legal to ban or remove folks like this from the streets alt together this community this city is what it is because of every resident whether you've got an address to put mail on or not people here say if the Supreme Court rules in favor of GRS Pass Oregon they'll take their fight to Trenton and argue there on behalf of the homeless in Newark I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news [Music]