Homelessness

Homelessness is at the top of the agenda for candidates in mayoral races across the U.S. West. But they differ on whether it’s OK to clear encampments that have spread as the crisis has deepened and how much to rely on temporary housing.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that city laws which punish homeless people who sleep outside are constitutional and do not violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

In downtown Atlanta, shipping containers have been transformed into an oasis for dozens of previously unsheltered people who now proudly call a former parking lot home. It’s just one example of micro communities that have been popping up across the U.S. In Denver, 1,500 people have been moved indoors through that city’s own micro community program.

The man charged Monday with the serial murders of three homeless men around Los Angeles, and the follow-home robbery and murder of an LA County employee in San Dimas, was the recipient of a $700,000 personal injury payment in recent months, court records and city officials confirmed.

An arrest has been made in the killing of three homeless men in the last week, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a press conference Saturday.

Mayor Adams eliminated a shelter rule in an attempt to move homeless New Yorkers into permanent housing more quickly. Melissa Russo reports.

Mayor Eric Adams‘ administration has been granted the opportunity to see a judge and attempt to make a case that some of New York City’s right-to-shelter obligations should be lifted amid the ongoing migrant crisis. In an order dated May 25 and obtained by NBC New York, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Deborah Kaplan responded to the city’s request two...

Mayor Eric Adams is asking a judge to suspend the city’s long-standing obligation to provide shelter to everyone in need. Here’s what that would mean for asylum seekers. NBC New York’s Ida Siegal reports.

Democratic leaders in major U.S. cities are finding themselves politically squeezed when it comes to addressing homelessness. Their constituents are tiring of seeing homeless encampments sprouting across communities. Advocates for homeless people are denouncing the hardline approaches being taken in large cities including New York and Los Angeles. A unanimous New York City Council has passed a “Homeless Bill of...