These laws make everything worse.
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
** For Immediate Release: April 11, 2024
------------------------------------------------------------
** Rutherford Institute Denounces Law Against Sleeping, Camping in Public as Unconstitutional Attempt to Criminalize Homelessness
------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Rutherford Institute is challenging attempts by Oregon city officials in Grants Pass to prohibit sleeping and camping in public ([link removed]) through the use of excessive fines and criminal trespass charges.
In pushing back against a nationwide trend in urban and suburban communities to criminalize homelessness, the Institute has joined the Fines and Fees Justice Center and Street Democracy in an amicus brief ([link removed]) before the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which argues that the City’s ordinances against sleeping and camping in public violate the Excessive Fines Clause and the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment.
“The homeless, by far the most vulnerable in any community, have found themselves increasingly displaced and disadvantaged by laws that will only worsen their plight,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People ([link removed]) . “While we recognize the difficulties that public officials face in addressing the problems arising from homelessness, the use of excessive fines to penalize public sleeping is a counterproductive, cosmetic attempt to address homelessness that does nothing to resolve the underlying problems.”
MAKE THE GOVERNMENT PLAY BY THE RULES OF THE CONSTITUTION: SUPPORT THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM ([link removed])
In 2013, following a discussion alluding to the need to “make it uncomfortable enough for [homeless persons] in our city so they will want to move on down the road,” officials in Grants Pass, Oregon, increased enforcement of anti-sleeping and anti-camping ordinances prohibiting homeless persons from using a blanket or a cardboard box for protection from the weather while sleeping within the City’s limits. The ordinances result in civil fines up to several hundred dollars per violation, and persons found to violate ordinances multiple times can be barred from all City property and subject to criminal prosecution for trespassing. Unfortunately, while the city sought to discourage vagrancy, it did nothing to address the source of the homeless problem. As a non-profit organization serving homeless people in the area reported, “almost all of the homeless people in Grants Pass are involuntarily homeless. There is simply no place in Grants Pass for them to find affordable housing or shelter. They
are not choosing to live on the street or in the woods.”
In response to a class action lawsuit that was subsequently filed on behalf of all involuntarily homeless individuals living in Grants Pass, the district court found the ordinances to be unconstitutional but noted that the City could still limit camping or sleeping at certain times and places, limit the amount of bedding materials allowed, and pursue other options to prevent the erection of encampments that cause public health and safety concerns. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals mostly affirmed, holding that it is unconstitutional to punish simply sleeping in public with rudimentary forms of protection against snow, frost, or rain if one has nowhere else to sleep. The City appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to weigh in on the issues.
Hyland Hunt and Ruthanne M. Deutsch of Deutsch Hunt PLLC assisted with advancing the coalition's arguments in the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson amicus brief ([link removed]) .
The Rutherford Institute ([link removed]) , a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated and educates the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting their freedoms.
This press release is also available at www.rutherford.org ([link removed]) .
Source: [link removed]
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frutherford%2Ftri-denounces-law-against-sleeping-camping-in-public-as-unconstitutional-attempt-to-criminalize-homelessness Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frutherford%2Ftri-denounces-law-against-sleeping-camping-in-public-as-unconstitutional-attempt-to-criminalize-homelessness)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ([link removed])
To donate via PayPal, please click below:
[link removed]
============================================================
** Follow us on Facebook ([link removed])
** Follow us on Facebook ([link removed])
** Follow us on Twitter ([link removed])
** Follow us on Twitter ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
CONTACT INFORMATION
Nisha Whitehead
(434) 978-3888 ext. 604
**
[email protected] (mailto:
[email protected])
THE RUTHERFORD INSTITUTE
Post Office Box 7482
Charlottesville, VA 22906-7482
Phone: (434) 978-3888
** www.rutherford.org ([link removed])
Copyright © 2024 The Rutherford Institute, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because of your interest in the work of The Rutherford Institute. Founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute is a civil liberties organization that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional and human rights have been threatened or violated. To discontinue your membership electronically, or if you feel you are receiving this message in error, please follow the link below.
Under the regulations of the United States Internal Revenue Service, The Rutherford Institute is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization. Donations to support The Rutherford Institute’s legal and educational work help to safeguard the constitutional rights of all Americans. Donations are tax-deductible. In compliance with general industry standards of a nonprofit organization, the Institute is audited annually by an independent accounting firm.
** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
** update subscription preferences ([link removed])
