Supreme Court to define if fining unhoused people for sleeping in public violates federal law
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Can an unhoused person camp in public?
That’s exactly what a U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Grants Pass V. Johnson case will determine. Depending on the justice’s decision, homeless encampments could be completely illegal on public property.
In 2018, the city of Grants Pass, Oregon started fining people sleeping in public– despite the lack of shelter space available.
This led to a suit against the city resulting in what we know as “Grants Pass V. Johnson.”
In 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Gloria Johnson’s favor. This meant it could be considered cruel or unusual punishment to fine unhoused individuals if they had nowhere else to go.
It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide if this really goes against the Eighth Amendment.
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“What this could cause for an organization like the Mission is, well capacity is one of them. What happens now is we are either almost full or full every single night…there is still going to be a shortage of housing throughout our community. With the Mission at Kern County Being one of them,” Executive Director of The Mission at Kern County Carlos Baldovinos said.
Local law enforcement is ready to comply with either way this case might end up.
“The impact unit deals directly with homeless-related issues. So if there’s any concern from the public, I seriously encourage them to call the Bakersfield police department and we have a lot of different resources that we can tap into,” Nicole Anderberg, Lieutenant, Impact Unit of BPD said.
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