Can cities clear homeless camps without offering an alternative?

A homeless encampment in Los Angeles.

A homeless encampment in Los Angeles. Mario Tama/Getty Images

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

The Supreme Court will hear a case on how far local governments can go to enforce bans on sleeping and camping in public spaces.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced last week it will decide whether cities can clear homeless encampments by threatening people living there with criminal prosecution, in a closely watched case that pits housing advocates against city officials throughout the West.

At issue is whether cities can enforce camping bans on public property, without offering residents of those camps an alternative place to rest. For five years, federal courts have ruled that cities must provide people somewhere else to go to avoid prosecution, because otherwise the practice amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment.” But city and state officials blame that policy for the growth of homeless camps in cities such as Phoenix, Seattle and Missoula, Montana. 

The case originates from Grants Pass, Oregon, a small city where local ordinances criminalized camping and sleeping in public spaces like parks and sidewalks. Gloria Johnson and John Logan, two people experiencing homelessness in Grants Pass, filed a lawsuit against the city, saying the rules punished homeless people for simply existing. 

A trial court in Oregon and the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals—which covers several Western states—both sided with the plaintiffs, saying that punishing people for sleeping outdoors when they have nowhere else to go is a form of cruel and unusual punishment and a violation of the Eighth Amendment. The decision in the Grants Pass case follows a 2018 ruling by the Ninth Circuit in Martin v. Boise, which established the “cruel and unusual punishment” argument. Whether those ordinances really violate the Eighth Amendment is at the heart of the Supreme Court dispute. 

If the Grants Pass decision is reversed, “it could lead to a situation where all across the country, you can be forced into a relocation camp under threat of arrest, or into jail, just simply because you can't afford rent in your community,” said Eric Tars, senior policy director for the National Homelessness Law Center.

The Supreme Court typically hears a case when appeals courts reach different conclusions, according to Tars. “But here, we don't have that,” he said. “Courts have been pretty consistent across the country, in line with Martin v. Boise and Johnson v. Grants Pass decisions.”

Now though, many state and local officials have voiced opposition to the standard, arguing that the decision ties the hands of governments working to maintain clean, safe streets. Twenty Republican attorneys general filed a friend-of-the court brief in September, urging the high court to consider the case and reverse the decision. They argued that the Ninth Circuit Court has impeded state and local governments’ constitutional right to set rules around land-use issues and public spaces. 

“Families can no longer walk the streets of Portland, San Francisco and Seattle in safety,” they wrote. “The pungent smell of urine and human feces fills the air. Hypodermic needles used for narcotics cover the ground. And rats carrying diseases that were once thought eradicated scurry from encampments to nearby businesses and homes. These cities used to be beacons of the West, but their sidewalks are now too dangerous to visit.” 

Even Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a brief in September urging the high court to consider the case and describing the need to clarify what kinds of restrictions are unconstitutional.

The Johnson v. Grants Pass decision “provides no guidance about how state and local governments can enforce policies to clean encampments or move individuals to safer locations, even when they are not attempting to enforce total bans on the presence of homeless individuals within a particular jurisdiction,” Newsom’s lawyers wrote.

If the Supreme Court overturns the decision and rules in favor of the city, it could kick decisions around camping bans back to the states, similar to how the high court’s 2022 Dobbs decision gave the states authority to set their own abortion restrictions, Tars said. 

It’s also important to keep in mind that people of color are most likely to experience homelessness, as are LGBTQ+ people and seniors, he said. 

“The disparate impacts of this case are going to run deep.” 

Arresting and prosecuting people who have no place to live will make it more difficult for them  to escape homelessness, said Steve Berg, chief policy officer for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. A criminal record, for example, will make it harder to secure a job. For those who are employed but still without stable housing, a night in jail could get them fired. 

There’s plenty of evidence to support policies that reduce homelessness, including housing-first initiatives and land-use reforms that spur housing development. The cities that implement these practices are the ones seeing the greatest reductions in homelessness, Berg said. 

Take Houston, where homelessness has fallen 63% since 2011. The city uses a housing-first approach to move people experiencing homelessness into their own homes and apartments, where some stay for several months while they connect with services like counseling and substance misuse treatment. Once they’re back on their feet, they can more easily secure permanent housing. 

Strategies like housing first require collaboration and buy-in from all parties involved: government agencies, nonprofits, residents and people experiencing homelessness. Criminalization, meanwhile, separates people from their support networks. It worsens the situation and often creates more tensions in communities, Berg added. 

“If you're someone who's working for people who are homeless and have friends in that community, and the police are locking those people up, it's hard not to view the police as the enemy,” he said. And if police are responsible for enforcing bans on public camping, they’re likely to see unhoused people as adversaries. 

”That's just a recipe for more homelessness,” he said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.