NY Times Editorial: The Constitution on Skid Row

In 2011, a Federal District Court judge enjoined the city (of Los Angeles) from seizing property there unless it was abandoned, contraband, evidence of a crime or an immediate threat to public health or safety, and from destroying it unless it posed a threat.

In a welcome 2-to-1 ruling last week, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that order, rejecting the contention that “the unattended property of homeless persons is uniquely beyond the reach of the Constitution.” 

The court found that the Fourth Amendment’s protection of possessions and the 14th Amendment’s due-process guarantee prohibited this kind of confiscation of personal property by government, regardless of the homelessness of the owner. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/opinion/sunday/the-constitution-on-skid-row.html?_r=1