As high court takes up landmark case, Mainers denounce criminalization of homelessness

Advocates and members of Maine's unhoused community rallied in Monument Square on April 22, 2024. (Evan Popp/ Maine Morning Star)

As oral arguments got underway in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case involving the rights of unhoused people, over 70 people rallied at Monument Square in Portland on Monday to denounce the criminalization of homelessness. 

The case originates in the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon, which has barred sleeping or camping on city property. Three unhoused people sued the city, arguing that banning such activity when there isn’t adequate access to shelter represents a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. 

The Supreme Court, which currently has a conservative majority, began hearing the case Monday and is expected to make a decision sometime this summer. With hundreds of thousands of people around the country currently unhoused — a number that is on the rise — the case is considered the most significant homelessness-related matter the court has taken up in decades. 

In Maine, where homelessness has also increased amid rising housing and rental prices, unhoused people and other advocates criticized the Grants Pass ordinance as unconstitutional. The Portland-based demonstration corresponded with similar actions in other parts of the country. 

Cities including Portland and Bangor have conducted sweeps of homeless encampments in recent months. (Evan Popp/ Maine Morning Star)

Rally-goers held up signs that read “Homelessness is not a crime,” “Criminalization is not the answer” and “Housing not handcuffs,” and urged an end to punishing unhoused people simply for existing.

One speaker at the rally, Zachary Moore of South Portland, said he has many years of experience with homelessness, bouncing between being housed and unhoused throughout his life. Moore said Grants Pass’ approach to homelessness represents a violation of fundamental rights. 

“They have chosen to try to arrest and fine their way out of these issues,” Moore said. “We think it’s wrong, it’s a violation of your Eighth Amendment, it’s cruel and unusual punishment.” 

Along with discussing the importance of the Supreme Court case, Moore also criticized the response to homelessness in Maine and led demonstrators in a chant of “stop the sweeps.” 

Cities including Portland and Bangor have conducted sweeps of homeless encampments in recent months. The actions drew widespread criticism from unhoused people and advocates, who argue the sweeps are ineffective and violate multiple constitutional rights. 

The ACLU of Maine is one group that has opposed the sweeps. At Monday’s rally, Anahita Sotoohi, a legal fellow with the organization, argued that many states, including Maine, have launched “publicly-funded attacks on their unhoused residents.” 

Sotoohi also spoke about the Grants Pass case, saying that the matter before the court is ultimately a simple one. 

“When the court decides this case, it will be deciding whether cities and states can legally punish people who are forced to sleep outside … even when they have no other safe option,” she said.

Still, regardless of how the justices rule, Sotoohi emphasized that unhoused people in Maine will still have rights, including the right to due process, to privacy, to speech, to own belongings, to vote and to exist.  

Another speaker at the rally was Gracie Jackson, a 9-year-old who volunteers with It Takes a Village 207, a group that passes out food and other necessities to unhoused people in the Sanford area. 

Jackson said solutions that could be pursued instead of punishing homeless people include creating more shelters, more affordable housing and better mental health services.  

“It is very wrong to criminalize homelessness,” she said. “This country needs more compassion, love and kindness, because not only are we all deserving of a home, we are all deserving of compassion.” 

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