On June 28, 2024, the United States Supreme Court determined that cities may arrest and banish homeless residents who sleep or shelter outdoors in the city, even when they have nowhere else to sleep or the city does not provide access to shelter indoors. The decision, in favor of Grants Pass, Oregon, overturned the 2018 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Martin v. Boise, which had found the practice of penalizing people for sleeping outside if no shelter was available to be “cruel and unusual punishment.”
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor highlighted the potential harms of criminalizing homelessness. She emphasized that sleeping outside is a “biological necessity” for some and that it is possible to balance the needs of local governments with constitutional principles and the humanity of homeless individuals.
The Grants Pass ruling applies in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes not only Oregon, but also Washington, seven other Western states, and Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. However, the ruling is already influencing homelessness policy in cities around the country and will likely lead officials in many jurisdictions to respond to outdoor encampments much more aggressively.
NJP continues to represent unhoused individuals to assert their right under Washington’s Constitution to live in their community without fear of arrest or banishment even when there is no indoor shelter available to them at night. Washington’s Constitution provides more protection against cruel punishments than does the federal constitution. Washington courts will be required to step in and enforce the rights of our most vulnerable residents when the federal courts decline to do so.