Case could have major implications for homeless policies in Humboldt
In a case that could drastically alter how cities in California and beyond deal with homeless encampments, U.S. Supreme Court justices on April 22 weighed whether to allow broader punishment for people camping in public spaces. “Laws like ours, they really do serve an essential purpose,” said Theane Evangelis, arguing on behalf of the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, which banned encampments. “They protect the health and safety of everyone. It is not safe to live in encampments. It’s unsanitary, we see what’s happening. And there are the harms of the encampments on those in them and outside.” If the justices side with Grants Pass, they could roll back limits that for years have curtailed cities’ ability to clear encampments and punish campers. Two prior Ninth Circuit appellate rulings determined that penalizing an unhoused person for camping in public, if they have nowhere else to sleep, violates the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court’s opinion is expected in late June. However the justices come down, it will affect cities throughout the country. But nowhere will it be felt as acutely as in California, where nearly half of the country’s entire unsheltered homeless population lives. What’s at stake in the Grants Pass case? The case, Johnson vs. Grants Pass, stems from a 2018 lawsuit challenging ordinances that ban camping even when there are no beds available in a homeless shelter. Because humans need to sleep somewhere, homeless residents of Grants Pass sued, claiming the ordinance criminalizes them for being homeless and violates the Eighth Amendment. “The ordinances by design make it physically impossible for homeless people to live in Grants Pass without facing endless fines and jail time,” said attorney Kelsi Brown Corkran, who argued on behalf of the homeless respondents. The lower courts sided with the homeless residents. Now, Grants Pass is asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling. More than three dozen elected officials and organizations — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom — filed briefs weighing in on the case. Cities, law enforcement agencies and Newsom say the prior rulings tie their hands as they try to manage dangerous and unsanitary encampments. Several cities, including San Francisco, Sacramento, Chico and San Rafael, have been hit with court orders stopping or delaying them from clearing encampments. But advocates for the civil rights of unhoused people worry if the former rulings are overturned, cities will be able to…