ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A rally organized by the advocacy group VOCAL-NY took place at Don Torres Park in Rochester today.
The rally focused on calling for an end to encampment sweeps and advocating for increased government funding for programs that assist the unhoused. Participants expressed hope that these measures could help end homelessness in the area.
The event commemorated the two-year anniversary of a Supreme Court ruling upholding local governments’ rights to enforce encampment restrictions on homeless individuals. This decision, in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, concluded that such actions do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment…