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THE SUPREME COURT SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR CRIMINALIZING HOMELESSNESS  
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Christiana Stalnaker
July 30, 2024
The Progressive
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_ No one wakes up one morning and chooses to be homeless. No one says
to themselves, “How fun would it be for my kids and my family to
live in a tent without food, water, school, or transportation?” _

less encampment in McPherson Square Park in Washington, D.C.,
February 2023, Elvert Barnes (CC BY-SA 2.0

 

I listened with profound sadness to the recent Supreme Court
decision _Grants Pass v. Johnson
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opens the door for people to be arrested simply for lacking shelter.
This decision makes it legal for local governments to target, fine,
and even incarcerate people who fall asleep in public areas,
regardless of whether there’s safe, accessible shelter available. 

Where’s the compassion? Where’s the justice?

I know what it’s like to be without a place to call home. In the
years before the pandemic, my husband and I were working hard to buy a
house for our children and the animals we rescued. I’d overcome an
opioid addiction. We had a small business and were starting to achieve
our dreams.

But when the pandemic hit, we lost our business, and our debts quickly
mounted. We’d nearly completed the purchase of the house we’d been
renting, but we lacked the money to transfer the deed. The owner of
the deed decided to evict us.

We live in a small, rural West Virginia town where only two shelters
are available—and none that would take our pets. So we lived in a
tent with our children and animals for three months. 

Losing your home is incredibly destabilizing. Without a fixed address,
you can lose benefit payments, official mail, jobs, and other critical
opportunities. When I was evicted, I didn’t have time to switch over
my license plate to my new vehicle, which caused me to lose my
license. I still haven’t been able to regain my driving privileges.

We had to walk long distances for food and water, and we had no way to
shower. My children had to change schools, and the emotional strain on
them caused behavioral and mental health challenges that no child
should have to experience.

We survived with help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), or food stamps. We got a tiny amount of cash
assistance from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program and
health care through Medicaid. 

We were eligible for housing assistance, but the wait was impossibly
long due to the lack of available affordable housing. That’s not
just a problem in West Virginia—the United States has a shortage
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units for people with very low incomes. 

Let me tell you this: No one wakes up one morning and chooses to be
homeless. No one says to themselves, “How fun would it be for my
kids and my family to live in a tent without food, water, school, or
transportation?”

The owner of the deed to our house finally relented and reduced the
deed fee so we could take possession of our house and move back home.
But so much damage had been done to the kids already—and we lost
most of our rescued animals.

Once housed, I finished my Masters in Public Administration. But with
a felony conviction from my earlier days suffering through addiction,
finding a job is challenging. My husband works but has medical
challenges. We live paycheck to paycheck, hoping another disaster
won’t put us out on the street.

Things need to change for families like mine. The Supreme Court’s
cruel decision to penalize people who are suffering is a big step in
the wrong direction. How is fining and arresting people who are too
poor to pay going to help?

Here’s a better idea. We need to invest in affordable housing,
ensure people are paid living wages
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and support struggling families with a robust safety net. 

I’m deeply saddened that our leaders would criminalize people
suffering poverty, as if we were living in a Charles Dickens novel.
Our laws must be better, and we must hold our officials accountable.
We work hard at doing the right thing—they should, too.

_This column was produced for __Progressive Perspectives_
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Progressive_ magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service._

_Christiana Stalnaker is a mother, advocate, and volunteer with
RESULTS from Four States, West Virginia._

_A voice for peace, social justice, and the common good! Since
1909, The Progressive magazine has aimed to amplify voices of
dissent and voices under-represented in the mainstream, with a goal
of championing grassroots progressive politics._

* homelessness
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* affordable housing
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* living wage
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* Supreme Court
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