‘Parks would become tent cities’: Hermitage neighbors worried SCOTUS will uphold case allowing unhoused to sleep on public property
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The country’s highest court heard arguments Monday on whether fining and arresting people who sleep on public property is considered cruel and unusual punishment, and the ruling could have a significant impact on Tennessee where camping on public property is a felony.
The case originated in Grants Pass, Oregon where three unhoused people sued the city after it passed a law banning camping on public property. According to the lawsuit, the three plaintiffs argued the ordinance violated their 8th Amendment rights.
The case was appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court where justices listened to debate Monday.
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“The city was trying to incentivize people to accept shelter in dealing with a small group that was causing serious problems and crime in the city, and they’re trying to balance those who wouldn’t take the help with the city’s needs to keep their public spaces open,” said Theane Evangelis, attorney for the City of Grants Pass.
“[Sleeping] is not only something everybody engages in, but it’s something everybody has to engage in in order to be alive, so if you can’t sleep, you can’t live, and therefore by prohibiting sleeping, the city is basically saying you can’t live in Grants Pass. It’s the equivalent of banishment,” said Kelsi Corkran, attorney for the plaintiffs.
Some conservative justices seemed sympathetic toward the unhoused sleeping outside, especially when there aren’t enough beds in shelters, while other liberal justices argued the city’s ordinance may criminalize a person for being homeless.
“All humans engage in the act in question – sleeping – and yet, the ordinance operates to penalize only certain individuals – those who have no choice but to do that in public,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said. “Where do we put them if every city, every village, every town lacks compassion and passes a law identical to this? Where are [the unhoused] supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves not sleeping?”
Some justices suggested that maybe the Supreme Court should let local governments and policymakers decide how they want to address the issue.
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Hermitage neighbor, Brittany McCann listened to the debate closely from Hermitage.
McCann worked for nearly two years, pushing Metro Nashville to close down a large encampment near her neighborhood in Hermitage after neighbors said it created dangerous conditions, not only for the people in the encampment, but those around it.
“What we saw in Hermitage when we had an open encampment on public property was human waste, feces, urine, vomit, blood, used medical supplies such as needles to inject drugs, we had a lot of theft and crime in our community, we had three people hit and killed by cars in less than six weeks; trash everywhere,” McCann said. “Our community became extremely unsafe.”
McCann told News 2 she’s concerned the Supreme Court may uphold the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling declaring Grants Pass, OR’s ordinance banning sleeping on public property a violation of people’s 8th Amendment rights, effectively overruling Tennessee’s own law that made camping on public property a felony in 2022.
“Our national parks, our city parks; our local community parks would all become tent cities if this is [upheld] by the Supreme Court,” McCann said. “Tennessee has already made a state law where living on public land is illegal. Davidson County chooses not to enforce that law, and now the Supreme Court is going to have to make a decision on what happens, and I am just terrified what is going to happen to our community, because we’ve already seen what happens when it is allowed.”
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SCOTUS’s ruling is due by June.
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