Three years after the Grants Pass ruling, cities take divergent approaches to homelessness

Following the Supreme Court’s City of Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling, many cities and states have increased encampment removals and criminalization of homelessness. This Shelterforce/Next City article highlights the communities taking a different approach — protecting their unhoused residents.

Many of these communities are outlawing punishments for sleeping outside when there's no available shelter. The piece explores emerging legislation in places like Illinois and Pennsylvania and Connecticut’s first-in-the-nation ban on hostile architecture in public spaces. According to the article, "Proposals in multiple states have attempted to ban the practice of “hostile architecture,” or intentional design decisions that make it difficult to sit or lie down outside to dissuade homeless people from sleeping."