Anchorage is joining a movement in requesting that the Supreme Court overturn 9th Circuit decisions over "homeless camping on public land," according to Anchorage Daily News.
"The homelessness crisis is a complex issue that requires a complex solution, and the 9th Circuit Court’s decisions have paralyzed our ability to address this crisis in places where it’s most severe," Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson reportedly said at a news conference.
Other groups have also spoken out against decisions from the 9th Circuit that have "protected the rights of homeless people to camp outdoors on municipal property when there’s no alternative indoor shelter available for them to go otherwise," per Anchorage Daily News.
"The Ninth Circuit’s decisions in Martin and Johnson tie the hands of local policymakers and make solving this crisis harder," attorneys with the International Municipal Lawyers Association reportedly wrote.
The New York Times described the legal briefs against the 9th Circuit as a "rare alliance" between Republicans and Democrats.
"In a surge of legal briefs this week, frustrated leaders from across the political spectrum, including the liberal governor of California and right-wing state legislators in Arizona," The Times wrote, "charged that homeless encampments were turning their public spaces into pits of squalor, and asked the Supreme Court to revisit lower court decisions that they say have hobbled their ability to bring these camps under control."
A petition, also shared by Anchorage Daily News, revealed further legal arguments against the 9th Circuit's decisions on homelessness.
"As a practical matter, these decisions compel local governments to choose between providing shelter or surrendering public lands to encampments that harm local communities," the petition states, calling the 9th Court's decisions a "separation of powers violation."
"It also presupposes that temporary shelter beds are the solution to homelessness, channeling local resources away from longer-term solutions like permanent supportive housing, mental healthcare, drug rehabilitation, and low-income housing support," the petition continued.
Mayor Bronson told Fox News Digital in a statement: "Homelessness is a complex issue that requires a complex solution. The 9th Circuit Court’s ruling limits local government’s authority to address homelessness issues. It has created a one-size-fits-all solution – and that is temporary shelter – and that isn’t the only solution. My hope is that the supreme court will put authority back into local governments hands so that cities can address homelessness in a way that makes the most sense for them."
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