Kimberly Morris holds up a notice a police officer gave her giving her 72 hours to move her tent from a park in Grants Pass, Oregon, on 18 April 2024.Kimberly Morris holds up a notice a police officer gave her giving her 72 hours to move her tent from a park in Grants Pass, Oregon, on 18 April 2024.that cities can fine and jail unhoused people for sleeping outside, arguing that criminalizing camping when there is no shelter available does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment”.
Some local governments had argued that the protections hamstrung their response to the growing homelessness crisis, an emergency that’s particularly acute in the US west. Beyond fines, the city of Grants Pass is going to eventually jail more people. This is punishing people who have done nothing more than exist in public space. This case was about whether you can punish people for the unavoidable consequences of being human. The supreme court said yes.This is quite possibly the most consequential decision in history up until this point relating to homeless rights. It’s hard to overstate how important it is.
Presumably cities could in the future go even further than Grants Pass has, as long as they frame their laws as prohibiting public camping, instead of prohibiting homelessness, although I don’t think that issue has been fully resolved by today’s decision.
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