Supreme Court to Reconsider Martin v. Boise

“The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a case that could dramatically reshape how cities across the West respond to the homelessness crisis,” reported Bob Egelko, the San Francisco Chronicle's prolific court reporter, on Jan. 12.

[See post on Egelko's piece on another housing-related case before the high court: California Impact Fees Reach Supreme Court, October 4, 2023, and the update from SCOTUSblog, Jan. 9]

“Gov. Gavin Newsom, governments in 20 other states and organizations of cities and counties had asked the court to review and overturn a September 2022 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prohibited local governments from sweeping homeless encampments unless shelter was available for the camp’s residents,” adds Egelko. 

San Francisco and Mayor London Breed went further and asked the Supreme Court to take the unusual step of immediately reversing the appellate ruling, without the need for a hearing. The justices did not grant that request but agreed to hear arguments on the constitutional standards for local governments to remove people from camps and tents on public property. A ruling is due by the end of June.

Grants Pass, not San Francisco

While the outcome of the case, which will entail revisiting of the Ninth Circuit's landmark Martin v. City of Boise ruling in 2018, is of major consequence in California, which has about 27% of the nation's homeless population, the case comes from the state's northern neighbor.

But Ed Johnson of the Oregon Law Center, attorney for the homeless in Grants Pass, Ore., where the 9th Circuit case arose, said Friday the appeals court’s ruling does not tie the government’s hands and should be upheld.

[Gloria Johnson, Et Al V. City Of Grants Pass, was the subject of a July post after the Ninth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc. The 2022 decision was made by a 3-judge panel.]

Blue and red states united

“The case has become a rare instance in which officials across the political spectrum, from Newsom to conservative state senators in Arizona, are seeking the same outcome,” adds Egelko.

“Families can no longer walk the streets of Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle in safety,” said lawyers for the 20 states [pdf], led by Idaho and Montana.

Now that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal, the case goes by title, City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. Note that the high court refused to hear an appeal of Martin v. Boise in December 2019.

“It adds another high-profile case to a docket that includes abortion, the power of administrative agencies and a challenge to whether former President Donald J. Trump is eligible for Colorado’s Republican primary ballot,” reported The New York Times on January 12.

San Francisco case

“Friday’s announcement came one day after the 9th Circuit upheld a lower decision [pdf] prohibiting San Francisco from removing homeless people from the streets without first offering them shelter,” reported The Hill on January 12. 

“In Thursday’s 2-1 ruling, the court said the city was violating constitutional standards that the 9th Circuit had declared in 2018 when it said Boise, Idaho, could not make it a crime to sleep on a public street or sidewalk when shelters are not available,” reported Egelko for the Chronicle on Jan. 11 on the case, Coalition on Homelessness v. City and County of San Francisco.