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. However, 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.”
In response to a class action lawsuit 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 if one has nowhere else to sleep. In upholding the ordinances, the Supreme Court concluded that decisions about how to solve homelessness must be left to state and local policymakers.
Hyland Hunt and Ruthanne M. Deutsch of Deutsch Hunt PLLC assisted with advancing the coalition’s arguments in the amicus brief.
The Rutherford Institute, 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.
Source: https://tinyurl.com/3r8v3h4c
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