Supreme Court Ruling Allows Cities to Criminalize Homelessness

Controversial Decision Empowers Local Governments to Punish Sleeping in Public

In a significant ruling on the nation's homelessness crisis, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places. The 6-3 decision, which fell along ideological lines, overturned lower court rulings that had deemed such punishments as cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment.

The case originated in the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon, where three homeless individuals sued after receiving citations for sleeping and camping outside. The city argued that criminal penalties were necessary to enforce local laws banning homeless people from public spaces for "reasons of cleanliness and safety."

Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch stated that the Eighth Amendment does not grant federal judges the authority to dictate the nation's homelessness policy. He asserted that "homelessness is complex" and that local governments should have the freedom to devise their own solutions.

However, in a scathing dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor , joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson , argued that "sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime." Sotomayor warned that the decision "criminalizes the status of homelessness" and will "cause undue harm" to those without shelter.

Empowering Aggressive Encampment Removals

Advocates and legal experts fear that the Supreme Court's ruling will embolden cities to take more aggressive action in removing homeless encampments, potentially leading to increased property seizures and further criminalizing homelessness.

"There will be even more of these sweeps and attempts to just close down encampments or harass people who are living on the streets to just basically make them become less visible, maybe leave town," said Stephen Schnably, a law professor at the University of Miami.

Ann Oliva, the CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, expressed concern that the decision "opens the door" to more instances of cities discarding homeless individuals' personal belongings during encampment removals, a practice that ProPublica has previously reported on.

Lack of Affordable Housing Solutions

While the Supreme Court's ruling grants cities broader authority to punish people for sleeping in public, it does not address the underlying causes of the homelessness crisis, such as the severe shortage of affordable housing. Advocates argue that criminalizing homelessness will not solve the problem and may instead push people further into isolation and vulnerability.

"Why come up with innovative, creative solutions when you can simply raid encampments and put people in jail," said Donald Whitehead, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

The decision is likely to have a far-reaching impact, as states have already enacted new legislation that criminalizes camping on public land. As the homelessness crisis continues to escalate, the battle over how to address this complex issue is far from over.