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A city in Oregon asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to decide whether local governments may ticket homeless people sleeping on public property or whether that is a cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution.
Grants Pass, a city of 38,000 in southern Oregon, told the Supreme Court in an appeal that the prohibition on handing out tickets has created a dire situation within and near encampments of homeless people, hamstringing officials’ ability to deal with crime, fires and “the reemergence of medieval diseases.”
The question of whether people without homes can be punished under laws designed to regulate public camping and sleeping outside has been percolating in federal courts for years as several states and cities grapple with burgeoning homelessness. The Supreme Court declined to consider a similar case in 2019 after a federals appeals court in California ruled that homeless Americans could not face criminal prosecution.
At issue in the latest case is a ruling from that same court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, that held cities could also not issue tickets to homeless people who were using blankets, pillows or means to protect themselves from the elements. The court noted that the city handed out dozens of citations each year, sometimes with fines that reached several hundred dollars.
“The number of homeless persons outnumber the available shelter beds. In other words, homeless persons have nowhere to shelter and sleep in the city other than on the streets or in parks,” the court wrote. “The anti-camping ordinances prohibit plaintiffs from engaging in activity they cannot avoid.”
In a sharp dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote that the appeals court decision “effectively guarantees a personal federal constitutional ‘right’ for individuals to camp or to sleep on sidewalks andin parks, playgrounds, and other public places in defiance of traditional health, safety, and welfare laws.”
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution bars “cruel and unusual punishments.”
The estimated number of homeless people living in Grants Pass ranges from 50 to 600, court records show.
The Supreme Court will likely decide whether to hear the case, Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, later this year or in early 2024.
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