Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson was an abomination. Justice Sonia Sotomayor had it right when she said that criminally punishing people for sleeping outside when there is no shelter available to them is “unconscionable and unconstitutional.” Alas, six of her fellow justices disagreed, ruling that fining and imprisoning people just because they are homeless does not violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
This growing movement demands the fulfillment of the human right to housing. The people in this movement, not a half-dozen unelected, lifetime-appointed elites in black robes, will have the last word on how we treat our unhoused sisters and brothers. That was always going to be the case, no matter how the court decided Grants Pass. As a practical matter, the Supreme Court majority only ruled that anti-homeless legislation is allowable—not that it is advisable, much less required.