Why this matters
Research has consistently found that criminalizing homelessness only makes it harder for people to find housing, perpetuating the problem and increasing the cost to taxpayers.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday in a case that could decide whether it’s constitutional for governments to enforce a public camping ban when there’s nowhere else for people to sleep.
The court’s decision could have far-reaching implications here in San Diego and throughout California, which is home to the largest population of people experiencing homelessness in the nation.
The case — known as City of Grants Pass v. Johnson — stems from a complaint brought by the Oregon Law Center that claims anti-camping laws have made it impossible for “involuntarily homeless people to exist within city limits without facing civil and criminal penalties.”
Gloria Johnson, one of the named respondents, is a retired nurse who fell into homelessness after her Social Security income failed to keep pace with rising housing costs in Grants Pass, Oregon, a city of 38,000 residents.
But there is no emergency shelter for the city’s 600 unhoused residents, and the only transitional housing program is run by a religious organization that requires up to 138 participants to attend chapel services twice a day, according to court filings.
A lower court has ruled that enforcing such bans on camping in public amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, as spelled out in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It basically says punishments cannot be disproportionate to the crime.
Two other cases could impact the court’s view.
A federal court ruled in 2018 — Martin v. Boise — that “as long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter.”
Another case — Robinson v. California — ruled in 1962 that it’s unconstitutional for a state to punish someone for being addicted to drugs. In other words, governments can only punish people for an act, such as committing a crime or possessing drugs — not for the status of having an addiction.
Attorneys for Johnson argue that laws in Grants Pass effectively make it illegal to be homeless.
“Given the universal biological necessity of sleeping and of using a blanket to survive in cold weather, the City’s enforcement of its ordinances meant that its homeless residents could not remain within city limits without facing punishment,” attorneys for Johnson wrote in a brief. The city “criminalized their existence in Grants Pass.”
Attorneys for the city of Grants Pass argue this case has nothing to do with the status of being homeless — it’s about violating a ban on public camping. They argued previous rulings have only weakened the government’s ability to address the homelessness crisis at the “worst possible time.”
“Public-camping laws are a critical (and constitutional) backstop as cities attempt to stop the growth of encampments and start to make progress on the underlying causes of homelessness,” attorneys for Grants Pass wrote in a brief.
What does this mean for San Diego?
After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, top San Diego officials and police cracked down on the growing number of tent encampments using a city law known as encroachment. The law was originally intended to prohibit trash cans from blocking a sidewalk, but nearly a decade ago police began using it as a tool to clear unhoused people from public spaces.
An inewsource analysis in 2022 found every criminal case that resulted from this crackdown ended in dismissal, often because the city attorney’s office asked for it.
Last June, the City Council narrowly passed an unauthorized camping ordinance. The law makes it illegal to camp citywide if shelter beds are available, and anytime, regardless of shelter availability, near schools, parks, transit hubs and waterways.
It has directly impacted visible homelessness. The number of people sleeping on downtown sidewalks has been cut in half compared to this time last year. Since enforcement began, San Diego police have issued 50 citations and made six misdemeanor arrests for unauthorized camping. Cities across San Diego County are drafting similar bans while a statewide proposal has stalled for now.
But the approach is not solving the problem. Every month for the past two years, more people in the county have lost housing than those who manage to find it. Those who want shelter often can’t get it — though San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria hopes to solve that problem by transforming an old warehouse into a 1,000-bed shelter.
The U.S. Supreme Court sets precedent for the entire country, so a ruling one way or another could have major impacts on how governments handle homelessness.
“This sets the stage for the most significant Supreme Court case about the rights of homeless people in decades,” said officials with the National Homelessness Law Center. “At its core, this case will decide whether cities are allowed to punish people for things like sleeping outside with a pillow or blanket, even when there are no safe shelter options.”
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
