Supreme Court: Anti-Homeless Laws Aren't Cruel, Unconstitutional

City laws prohibiting homeless encampments don't violate the Eighth Amendment, rules the Supreme Court.

City laws that bar homeless encampments in public spaces do not inflict cruel and unusual punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday [https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-574_3gae.pdf].

"The Eighth Amendment prohibits the punishment of status. But it does not ordinarily restrict regulation of the use of public spaces." Majority Opinion, US v. Ross

The 6-3 ruling stems from a case in Grants Pass, Oregon, and upholds similar camping ban laws nationwide, including Austin and Texas.

A Blow to Advocates

With this opinion, the Court takes away a legal avenue used by advocates for the homeless to challenge these laws.

"The court's ruling today is a devastating blow to unhoused people across the country who are now at risk of being funneled into the criminal punishment system...for surviving in public when they have nowhere else to go."
- Tristia Bauman, Senior Attorney, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. [https://www.nlchp.org/press/press-releases/supreme-court-allows-criminalization- homelessness-case-go-trial]

Austin's Ban Reinforced

Austin's City Council repealed a public sleeping ban in 2019, but a 2021 voter-driven reversal reinstated it.

With the Supreme Court's ruling, homeless individuals across the U.S. can now be fined for sleeping in public, overturning a previous lower court ruling.

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