The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday for a major homelessness case that could have consequences for Los Angeles and other West Coast cities and how they enforce laws for camping in public spaces.
The case, Johnson v. Grants Pass, challenges ordinances passed by the southern Oregon city that bans people from camping on sidewalks, streets, and parks, when they have nowhere else to go. Violators face escalating civil fines or jail time.
The high court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will decide if that’s a violation of the 8th Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They’re expected to hand down a ruling by the end of June.
What L.A. service providers say
Shawn Morrissey, the vice president of advocacy and community engagement for Union Station Homeless Services, told LAist that punishing people for basically trying to live is harmful and creates even more homelessness.
He echoed Justice Elena Kagan’s comparison during oral arguments of sleeping in public to “breathing in public” for people who don’t have a place to go.
“It sounds like banishment from the planet, basically,” Morrissey said. “If you’re not allowed to sleep, you’re basically not being allowed to live.”
Morrissey said we tend to blame people who are experiencing the problem — a population that is going through the hardest time in their lives — instead of looking at the fractured systems that got us here.
He said the city had criminalized small infractions, like jaywalking, that entangled people in the justice system and created more harm in their lives.
“It’s hard enough to jump through those hoops if you’re in your own home and…
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