WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) – The Supreme Court decided on Friday that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors in West Coast areas, even where shelter space is lacking.

The case is the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue and comes as a rising number of people in the U.S. are without a permanent place to live.

The Supreme Court has issued a flurry of opinions this week, but some of its most closely-watched cases this year remain on the docket. Opinions also are scheduled to be announced on Monday.

In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines for the case of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the high court reversed a ruling by a San Francisco-based appeals court that found outdoor sleeping bans amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

In their ruling, the majority found that the 8th Amendment prohibition does not extend to bans on outdoor sleeping bans.

“Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority. “A handful of federal judges cannot begin to ‘match’ the collective wisdom the American people possess in deciding ‘how best to handle’ a pressing social question like homelessness.”

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