LOC News
United States Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Pivotal Case on Public Camping
Earlier this morning, the United States Supreme Court Justices agreed to hear City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. The Johnson case is the second major case involving cities and their ability to regulate public camping. The first case was the 2018 Martin v. Boise decision, where the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that placing regulations on public camping would violate the U. S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment, if there was no other shelter available in a city.
Shortly after the decision in Martin v. Boise, individuals experiencing homelessness sued the city of Grants Pass for its ordinance regulating public camping. After both the U.S. District of Oregon Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the city, the city of Grants Pass filed a petition requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court take up the case. The LOC and several other entities submitted a “friend of the court” brief in support of the city’s request for review.
The hearing date for this case has yet to be announced. The LOC will keep members informed of the outcome. The LOC would like to thank Anit Jindal and Harry Wilson at Markowitz Herbold PC for their excellent work on this matter.
Contact: Jayme Pierce, General Counsel - jpierce@orcities.org
For additional articles related to this alert please see various links below:
- https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/01/justices-take-up-camping-ban-case/
- https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/supreme-court-homelessness-18537797.php
- https://sfist.com/2024/01/12/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-case-on-homeless-encampment-sweeps/
- https://sfstandard.com/2024/01/12/supreme-court-homelessness-johnson-grants-pass-petition/
- https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/01/homeless-camp-scotus/
- https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-01-12/supreme-court-agrees-to-rule-on-homeless-encampments-in-california-and-the-west
- https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4405701-supreme-court-local-bans-homeless-people-sleeping-in-public/
- https://www.courthousenews.com/supreme-court-will-review-the-criminalization-of-homelessness/
- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-weigh-whether-cities-can-punish-homeless-people-sleeping-rcna133440
- https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/the-supreme-court-will-decide-whether-local-anti-homeless-laws-are-cruel-and-unusual/
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/12/supreme-court-homeless-encampments-restrictions/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/us/politics/supreme-court-homeless-camps-oregon.html
Last Updated 1/12/24