U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on Oregon city’s homelessness plan: What to know before the ruling drops

A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on a Grants Pass ordinance, aimed at preventing homeless residents from camping or sleeping outside, could be released Thursday or Friday, June 20 or 21, according to court-watchers.

At issue: Whether the Grants Pass rule violates the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

1. What it means for your city?

If the Grants Pass rules are constitutional or unconstitutional, that may hold true for the homelessness rules of many cities in Oregon. Across the state, cities may be looking at sweeping changes after the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling is released.

But the implications are far broader than that: The case could affect cities across the United States, particularly in the West, which have similar ordinances and are grappling with an increasing homelessness crisis.

2. Is there precedent the high court could turn to?

Robinson v. California, a 1962 decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the criminalization of addiction — to narcotics or alcohol — violates the Eighth Amendment. Plaintiffs in the Grants Pass case have argued that the state of being homeless is like being an addict; as such, people cannot be punished for it.

Martin V. Boise, a 2018 appears court case, ruled that the city of Boise infringed on the constitutional rights of homeless people by making it a crime to sleep outside, even when they have nowhere else to go.

3. Do we have any hints on which way the high court is leaning?

The justices heard oral arguments on April 22, and court-watchers said a majority of justices seemed inclined to side with Grants Pass. A conservative bloc of justices indicated that rules around homelessness are complex, and that it’s a policy question that should be left up to local elected representatives rather than the courts.

“Why do you think these nine people are the best people to judge and weigh those policy judgments?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked in April, referring to the Supreme Court.

The three liberal justices said that Grants Pass officials went too far and targeted homeless people with fines for the basic human need to sleep when they camped outside.

“You don’t arrest babies who have blankets over them, you don’t arrest people who are sleeping on the beach, as I tend to do if I’ve been there a while,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “You only arrest people who don’t have a second home, is that correct?”

4. What to know about Grants Pass.

Grants Pass is in Josephine County, south of Roseburg. The town of nearly 40,000 has about 600 people who are homeless. The only nonprofit that can provide shelter in that city can house only up to 100 beds, according to a brief submitted for the Supreme Court case.

Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom contributed to this article.