During this year’s NBA all-star game in Indiana, hall-of-famer Charles Barkley brought up San Francisco, the site of next year’s all-star game: “If you had a chance of being in the cold or being around a bunch of homeless crooks in San Francisco, which would you take? You can’t even walk around down there.” When a panelist disputed this claim, Barkley retorted “yeah, with a bulletproof vest and security.” Barkley is right. San Francisco, once a glorious city, is now a cesspool of homeless encampments, human waste, drugs, needles, and rampant crime.
Grants Pass is a small city in eastern Oregon, far less famous than San Francisco. Like its neighbor to the south, however, Grants Pass is dealing with the same problem: homeless encampments. To put a stop to this lunacy, Grants Pass officials instituted a system to end camping in public areas. Initial violations could result in a $295 fine. Subsequent violations could lead to an order banning that individual from the park for 30 days. Anyone who violated that order could face a charge of criminal trespassing, punishable by up to 30 days’ imprisonment and a $1,250 fine.
Radical attorneys for homeless people challenged this new Grants Pass ordinance, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke–who is not even a Senate-confirmed and presidentially appointed........