The Supreme Court in the USA has decided that cities can have bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors.
The decision means that a previous ruling from an appeals court, which deemed it a "cruel and unusual" punishment to ban homeless people from sleeping outdoors, is overturned.
The news comes at the same time as the number of people without a permanent home is increasing in the USA, and the decision applies even in areas where there is a shortage of shelters.
The case originated in the small town of Grants Pass in Oregon. There, local authorities began fining people who slept outdoors. The aim was to restore order to the city's public parks.
In other cities in western USA, homeless people who slept outdoors have been arrested. This is because city representatives claim that the sleeping places, which in some cases are near railway tracks or other infrastructure, are dangerous and unsanitary.
Hundreds of organizations have spoken out against the action. Punishing people who need somewhere to sleep will lead to homelessness being criminalized and the crisis worsening, they argue.
