With homelessness on the rise, the Supreme Court weighs bans on sleeping outdoors [Video]

The Supreme Court wrestled with major questions about the growing issue of homelessness on Monday as it considered whether cities can ban people from sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking.The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue as record numbers of people are without a permanent place to live in the United States.In California and other Western states, courts have ruled that it’s unconstitutional to fine and arrest people sleeping in homeless encampments if shelter space is lacking.A a cross-section of Democratic and Republican officials contend that makes it difficult for them to manage encampments, which can have dangerous and unsanitary living conditions. But hundreds of advocacy groups argue that allowing cities to punish people who need a place to sleep will criminalize homelessness and ultimately make the crisis worse as the cost of housing increases.Dozens of demonstrators gathered …