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The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Monday in a case that one legal expert has called the “most important Supreme Court case about homelessness in at least 40 years.” The issue before the court is the constitutionality of ordinances in an Oregon town that bar people who are homeless from using blankets, pillows, or cardboard boxes for protection from the elements while sleeping within the city limits. Defending the ordinances, the city contends that the laws simply bar camping on public property by everyone. But the challengers in the case counter that the ordinances effectively make it a crime to be homeless in the city.
The court’s ruling could have a significant impact not only in the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon, whose ordinances are being challenged, but in cities across the United States, where similar laws have proliferated. The “camping ban” model of legislation has been adopted more widely in recent years as state and local governments try to grapple with double-digit increases in the number of people who are homeless. Data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development indicated that more than 600,000 people in the United States were homeless on a single night in 2023.
The dispute before the court on Monday comes to the justices from Grants Pass, a city of just under 40,000 people in southwestern Oregon. With a vacancy rate of one percent and essentially no affordable housing, the city has as many as 600 people experiencing homelessness. The chief operating officer of a nonprofit in the county where the city is located that serves people who are homeless said in a declaration submitted in the case that almost all of the people who are homeless and live in the city do so involuntarily. “There is simply no place in Grants Pass for them to find affordable housing or shelter. They are not choosing to live on the street or in the woods,” the nonprofit COO said.
At a 2013 city council meeting to discuss possible solutions to the city’s homelessness problem, the city council president suggesting “mak[ing] it uncomfortable enough for [homeless people] in our city so they will want to move on down the road.” The city decided to increase enforcement of ordinances that bar the use of blankets, pillows, and even cardboard boxes while sleeping within the city.
www.scotusblog.com
The court’s ruling could have a significant impact not only in the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon, whose ordinances are being challenged, but in cities across the United States, where similar laws have proliferated. The “camping ban” model of legislation has been adopted more widely in recent years as state and local governments try to grapple with double-digit increases in the number of people who are homeless. Data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development indicated that more than 600,000 people in the United States were homeless on a single night in 2023.
The dispute before the court on Monday comes to the justices from Grants Pass, a city of just under 40,000 people in southwestern Oregon. With a vacancy rate of one percent and essentially no affordable housing, the city has as many as 600 people experiencing homelessness. The chief operating officer of a nonprofit in the county where the city is located that serves people who are homeless said in a declaration submitted in the case that almost all of the people who are homeless and live in the city do so involuntarily. “There is simply no place in Grants Pass for them to find affordable housing or shelter. They are not choosing to live on the street or in the woods,” the nonprofit COO said.
At a 2013 city council meeting to discuss possible solutions to the city’s homelessness problem, the city council president suggesting “mak[ing] it uncomfortable enough for [homeless people] in our city so they will want to move on down the road.” The city decided to increase enforcement of ordinances that bar the use of blankets, pillows, and even cardboard boxes while sleeping within the city.
Supreme Court to hear case on criminal penalties for homelessness - SCOTUSblog
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Monday in a case that one legal expert has called the “most important Supreme Court case about homelessness in at least 40 years.” The issue before the court is the constitutionality of ordinances in an Oregon town that bar people who are homeless from us
www.scotusblog.com
