 The Oregon case is the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue. It comes as a rising number of people in the U.S. are without a permanent place to live. The high court struck down a ruling by a San Francisco-based appeals court that found outdoor sleeping bans amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Correspondent Jeremy House. Leaders in the West had argued the lower court ruling made it harder for them to manage outdoor encampments encroaching on sidewalks and other spaces.