Can homeless people be punished for sleeping outside? The Supreme Court is about to decide. The court is hearing a case right now to determine whether towns and municipalities "can fine or jail people for camping in public," The Associated Press said. 

Federal courts have previously ruled that the Constitution's Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment, "forbids criminalizing sleeping in public" if a person has no other place to lay their head, Clare Pastore said at The Conversation. Now, the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, is challenging that precedent, arguing the Eighth Amendment "forbids only certain cruel methods of punishment," not fines or jail terms. 

Homelessness is becoming more visible in the U.S., Stateline said. The result? A growing friction in communities that have pivoted "from a focus on the rights of homeless people to the rights of local residents and businesses" affected by encampments. Justices will decide whose rights matter more. 

The Supreme Court can make a difference
Homeless people in Grants Pass are "being punished for the unavoidable human need to sleep," said the ACLU's Scout Katovich. But this isn't just an Oregon issue. We have seen a "troubling uptick" in sleeping and camping bans across the country, even though there aren't nearly enough shelters and beds for every homeless person. "If the Supreme Court rules for Grants Pass, cities could be empowered to treat all of those people as criminals," said Katovich. 

"Obviously, homelessness is a distressing, often tragic problem," said Goldwater Institute's Timothy Sandefur. But those problems are driven to a large extent by addiction and mental illness, and "neither of these have ever been viewed as exempting people from the law." In truth, the legal precedent against criminalizing homelessness has only made the problem worse by "confusing and frustrating city officials who want to do something to clean up their communities and help the unsheltered." Instead, forcing cities to allow camping gives them "handy excuses to do nothing about the homelessness problem."

Bigger than one case
However the Supreme Court rules, "criminalizing homelessness won't make it go away," Mark Horvath, Adam Westbrook and Lindsay Crouse said at The New York Times. Some people simply cannot easily afford shelter: 70% of "extremely low-income" Americans pay more than half their income on rent. "Becoming homeless is easier than we'd like to think." 

A U.S. military contractor is in court over allegations of prisoner torture during the Iraq War. Three former inmates at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad have brought a civil case against CACI, accusing the Virginia firm of conspiracy to torture prisoners, said The Independent. CACI has denied wrongdoing and said the claimants have not been able to "sufficiently prove" that its workers directed abuse at the prison. 

The case could have "ramifications beyond remedies for victims," said Time, which pointed to the military's "dependence on contractors." The global private military contractors (PMCs) sector has grown as governments seek cost-effective, expert and discreet resources to supplement their militaries. 

What do military contractors do? 
Escalating global conflicts have driven military spending across the world to "levels not seen since the Cold War," said the Financial Times. And that has been a boon for weapons, ammunition and defense technology manufacturers. 

The role of PMCs is "multifaceted," said Federica Saini Fasanotti at GIS Reports. They might act as "supplements to traditional armies" or be "employed by multinational corporations." 

Most contractors are former members of the armed forces who can use that training to "provide external and internal security, engage in warfare, secure local leadership and even become an extension of that leadership's armed forces," as well as train local soldiers. Although individual contractors are usually hired for the duration of a specific mission, many PMCs have had long-term engagements with governments. 

Who uses them? 
The most well-known PMC is the Wagner Group, a long-time contractor for the Russian government. But the most prolific employers of privatized armed forces, in addition to the U.S., are the U.K., China and South Africa. And reliance on contractors such as CACI has grown hugely since the Iraq War, to the point where the U.S. military "can't move, communicate, fight or sustain itself without contractor support," Steven Schooner, a professor at George Washington University Law School, said to Time. 

Why are they so controversial? 
The biggest issue around PMCs remains accountability. There is little regulation surrounding their actions, and while the "international community has sought to set standards," said The Guardian, legal ramifications for contractors have been rare.