Democracy Dies in Darkness

Activists at Supreme Court protest move to penalize homelessness

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April 22, 2024 at 4:58 p.m. EDT
Homeless activists gather Monday to protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices heard City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case centered on an Oregon city’s laws on people camping and sleeping on public property. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
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Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Monday outside the U.S. Supreme Court, waving signs that read “Housing Not Handcuffs” and “Housing Dignity” as they protested moves to legally penalize homelessness while justices heard oral arguments on a case that experts say could change how the country treats its homeless people.

At the center of the court case is Grants Pass, Ore., a city of 40,000 that in 2013 began aggressively enforcing anti-camping legislation, with fines and possible jail time, aimed directly at the area’s unsheltered communities. In 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Grants Pass’s actions violated the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.