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INSIDE FRIENDS OF FLORENCE A7

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THE VAN FANS ANNUAL

Ice Cream Social Fundraiser Saturday, July 20, from 1pm to 3pm

at the Florence Events Center, on the Patio.

Everyone is welcome!

TICKETS ARE $5

and will be available at the door. We are serving:

BJ’s Ice Cream and Cookies

Siuslaw News News & views that define our community

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Siuslaw NewsWednesday, July 10, 2024 Florence, Oregon City approves homeless sheltering code updates By TONY REED Siuslaw News

Three days after a divided United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) sided with the City of Grants Pass, the Florence City Council adopted code updates to regulate where and how long homeless citizens can sleep and remain in public areas. City Attorney Ross Williamson explained that the SCOTUS ruling would have little effect on the City’s new codes, since they’re based on an Oregon State law. “As we have talked about, the Grants Pass plaintiffs claimed that Grants Pass was regulating camping on City property, which included parks and other city property in city rights of way,” he said. “The claim from the plaintiffs was that these regulations violated the Eighth amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.” That was a holding from the Martin vs. Boise case, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Grants Pass case violated the Eighth Amendment and that the plaintiff’s did have a valid claim, Williamson explained. “As we heard on Friday, the Supreme Court determined that the plaintiffs did not make a case under the Eighth Amendment, so the city’s regulations about sitting and sleeping in parks or other city property did not amount to a violation under the Eighth Amendment,” he said. “So, essentially, the Supreme Court is saying that the Martin [vs. Boise] case was wrongly decided and that the Martin [vs. Boise] case took the Eighth Amendment too far and extended the … jurisprudence too far.” Williamson said the SCOTUS determination means the Martin vs Boise and the Johnson vs. Grants Pass cases were no longer “good law.” “Those cases no longer stand for the propositions that we have been talking about over the past year,” he said, “and that the Eighth Amendment is no longer implicated in these types of camping regulations.” Williamson noted that SCOTUS did not rule on whether Grants Pass regulations were legal or not, ruling only that they did not amount to a violation of the Eighth Amendment. He said the case will now go back to trial court to continue, and it will be determined if there are other claims the plaintiffs can make against those regulations. Williamson said SCOTUS specifically noted that the See UPDATE, Page A5

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Obituaries — A2 Sports & Lifestyle — B1

Number 28 • 133 years

Florence July 4th was a blast SIUSLAW NEWS STAFF

Unlike many inland areas experiencing triple digit temperatures and fire warnings, Florence saw perfect weather for eating watermelon, a bike parade and a fantastic fireworks display over the Siuslaw River. Fireworks were launched from the east end of the Port RV park, and

could be seen from a variety of viewpoints. Every available parking space in a 4-block radius of the Port was full, and many observers carried chairs and coolers from as far away as the event center. The crowd quickly hushed when the lights along the boardwalk went

out and the fireworks began. For those at the Port, the show was accompanied by music as booms echoed from the hills across the river. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River had a boat in the river as well. An ambulance was stationed in Old Town near the Port and fire

personnel were at the launch site ans staged around the area. Driving away from the port after the display, a layer of smoke hovered over town and flashed of light could be seen as residents celebrated with retail fireworks. No major incidents were reported as of Friday, July 5.

Democrats, homeless advocates disappointed in U.S. Supreme Court ruling on homelessness The top court sided with Grants Pass in a case brought by homeless people against that southern city’s restrictions on camping in public places its prohibitions against homeless people using blankets, pillows or cardboard to protect themselves in severe weather while sleeping in public places. The court said that the city’s ordinances against homeless camping did not violate the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. “The Constitution’s Eighth Amendment serves many important

functions, but it does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people and in their place dictate this nation’s homelessness policy,” the decision states. Sybil Hebb, a homeless expert with the Oregon Law Center, which provides free legal advice and filed the case against Grants Pass, told the Capital Chronicle the center’s staff was disappointed with the ruling.

LYNNE TERRY Oregon Capital Chronicle

Democratic lawmakers, homeless advocates and legal experts in Oregon expressed disappointment Friday with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Grants Pass homeless case, while conservatives welcomed the decision. In a 6-3 decision split along partisan lines, the court sided with the southern Oregon city in

Opinion — A3 Classifieds — B5-B6

“The decision is certainly not what we had hoped for,” Hebb said in an email. “We wholeheartedly disagree with the decision and find it morally wrong as well as counter-productive.” The court’s ruling marks a reversal of a 2022 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case, Gloria Johnson vs Grants Pass. See RULING, Page A7

Celebrating Over 30 Years in Real Estate

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1870 Hwy. 126, Suite A • PO Box 3040, Florence, OR