Grants Pass Homelessness Ruling Brings Issues Into Sharp Focus

The Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson continues to have rippling effects throughout the country, prompting advocates for unhoused people to renew their efforts to alleviate the homelessness crisis and prevent the criminalization of homelessness.

As Roshan Abraham explains in an article for Next City, some state and local governments are taking advantage of the ruling to create more punitive laws and further criminalize homelessness and encampments. “This alarming acceleration of threats to unhoused people has pushed homeless advocacy groups to craft a menu of strategies to protect unsheltered residents. This includes developing new model legislation to prevent criminalization and calling for more federal funding to provide affordable housing.”

The ruling draws into focus the scale of the homelessness crisis in the United States. The article outlines cases in several cities where advocates have been fighting for the rights of unhoused residents. According to the article, “If cities want to reduce encampments without displacing people, the best approach is to provide permanent supportive housing. But absent that, there’s plenty of evidence that people are much more likely to accept offers of single rooms, including hotel and motel rooms, than congregate shelter.” 

In many cases, people ‘refuse’ shelter because it doesn’t accommodate partners or pets, or or includes strict regulations such as check-out times and sobriety requirements. For advocates, the Grants Pass ruling brings the need to make local lawmakers understand the root causes of homelessness into sharp focus.