In 2018, the city of Grants Pass, Oregon began issuing tickets to homeless people who were found sleeping on park benches, sidewalks, and other public property. Granted, the city had been struggling with the issue for a time. There were anywhere from 50 to 600 homeless people in the city and simply not enough room in shelters, effectively forcing people to sleep on the streets.

Why the tickets?

When Grants Pass began issuing these tickets, they pointed to the Grants Pass Municipal Code. There were strict ordinances banning people from sleeping or camping in parks and on public property. 

A little bit of context:

The case started that same year in the US District Court for the District of Oregon. The court concluded that because there was not enough space in shelters, ticketing homeless people sleeping outside was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.

Also in 2018, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed this decision in a case called Martin v. City of Boise. The ruling stated that it was cruel and unusual to impose criminal penalties on homeless people eating, sleeping, or lying on public property when they had no other place to go.

However, Grants Pass was issuing only civil penalties. These could later mature into criminal penalties, but the question remained as to whether this was legal.

So… is this legal?

The City of Grants Pass appealed to the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 ruling, the court reversed the decision in Martin v. City of Boise. Justices Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan were dissenting.

What does this mean for homeless people?

In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor laid out the answer. 

“The City of Grants Pass jails and fines those people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow. For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless.” 

However, other politicians and leaders celebrated the ruling.

In the words of California Governor Gavin Newsom, “This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities.”

Looking to the future

Here, Newsom is talking about how the ruling makes it easier for local governments to completely wipe homeless encampments from the streets. But unfortunately for him, it does nothing to address the root of the problem. A problem that California, and the rest of the country, continues to struggle with.

From small cities like Grants Pass to booming metropolises like San Francisco and New York, America faces a critical shortage of affordable housing units. 

To conclude, this decision would not be so significant if the US were not struggling intensely to house regular people in its cities and towns. Allowing local governments to ticket and fine people who are already struggling financially while providing no other alternative to breaking the law is not doing anything to resolve this issue.