Supreme Court rules fining homeless for sleeping outside constitutional

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled cities can enforce outdoor sleeping bans on the homeless. The justices’ decision comes at a time when homelessness rates continue to climb across the country.

In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the high court sided with the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon. The conservative justices said it is not cruel and unusual punishment to fine homeless people for sleeping outside on public property.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion. He said, “Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it.”

Grants Pass officials have argued its tactics are a way to combat what they call the growing problem of encampments while claiming the city does not have enough space in shelters to house the homeless. Grants Pass has been imposing nearly $300 fines and upping them to criminal charges if they were not paid. Lower courts had said that was illegal.

And in a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision “leaves the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: Either stay awake or be arrested.”

The decision opens the door for municipalities across the country to pass similar ordinances to Grants Pass.

The National Homelessness Law Center said the decision is unjust and called on elected officials at every level of government to create laws protecting the homeless and increasing funding for housing.

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