Supreme court to decide whether US cities can enforce anti-homeless laws

The US supreme court will be reviewing an appeals court ruling that officials in cities across the west say bar them from removing unhoused people from public spaces when there are no shelter beds available.

On Friday, the supreme court agreed to hear an appeal from the city of Grants Pass, in south-west Oregon, where in 2022 a three-judge ninth circuit of appeals panel ruled that the city could not enforce its anti-camping ordinance that barred people from using any sort of shelter or bedding equipment on public property.

This ruling was partially based on the 2018 decision in Martin v Boise, a case that ended with the ninth circuit of appeals deciding that pushing people from city sidewalks and clearing encampments without offering shelter violates the US constitution’s cruel and unusual punishment clause.

Police, officials and business owners have contested the decision, arguing that it ties the hands of municipalities that want to clear homeless encampments. Advocates for the unhoused, on the other hand, argue that this decision does not stop local governments from building and investing in support services and shelters, but it does stop people from being punished for sleeping outdoors when they have no other option.

“Homelessness is growing not because cities lack ways to punish people for being poor, but because a growing number of hard-working Americans are struggling to pay rent and make ends meet,” the National Homelessness Law Center said in a statement after the supreme court announcement.

“This case does not limit communities’ response to addressing homelessness. Cities remain free to use any of the many evidence-based approaches that end homelessness, like housing,” the statement continued.

Elected officials