Minneapolis advocates express disappointment at Supreme Court's homelessness ruling
MINNEAPOLIS — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed with a small town in Oregon and determined that imposing a ban on homeless encampments does not violate Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The 6-3 decision divided on ideological lines represents the most significant case on homelessness before the nation's highest court in decades as cities across the country search for solutions to combat the problem of people sleeping on the streets.
"Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it. At bottom, the question this case presents is whether the Eighth Amendment grants federal judges primary responsibility for assessing those causes and devising those responses. It does not," wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in the majority opinion.
He added that the Eighth Amendment serves many important purposes, but it "does not authorize federal judges" to "dictate this nation's homelessness policy."
The ruling is poised to have a far-reaching impact, allowing cities to implement similar rules if they choose to. At the center of the case was Grants Pass, Oregon, which prohibited sleeping or camping on public property or city parks. Fines for violations started at $295.
Those who challenged its constitutionality prevailed in federal district court and the 9th Circuit Appeals Court upheld that lower court ruling, saying local officials cannot enforce the ordinance against homeless people sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go. The Supreme Court reversed course Friday.
Local leaders have argued when clearing large homeless encampments in Minneapolis in the past that they pose public health and safety risks. Rochester already has an ordinance barring encampments on public property, allowing police to arrest them for a misdemeanor, according to the Star Tribune.
Advocates for the homeless warn that such bans and penalties can exacerbate the problem and said they were disappointed by the decision.
"Let's not mask the issue of people sleeping in parks with what the real issue is. We just simply have to invest in ending homelessness, and we have the political will to do so," said Matt Traynor, interim executive director of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy organization working on the issue statewide.
The Wilder Foundation conducts the Minnesota Homeless Study every three years, surveying the homeless population across the state. On a single night in October of last year, nearly 11,000 were seeking shelter. Two-thirds of people without homes live in the Twin Cities metro.
Michelle Decker Gerrard, co-director of that report and senior research manager at the Wilder Foundation, said 28% of people they surveyed had slept 15 or more days outside in the previous month.
"The last thing we want to do is have more criminalization of folks for sleeping where they have to," Gerrard said.
"This solution is not a solution," she added. "It actually makes things worse."
Solutions to combat homelessness have been in focus at the state capitol the past couple of years and advocates like his group saw some victories. Traynor said the state has invested in ways it never has before in order to curtail the problem.
He noted the legislature authorized $100 million to help build and expand shelters, which means 600 new beds and preserving 800 more. That money is just getting out the door, so there will be a delay before communities feel the impact, he said.
But he was frank that there is still a lot more work left to do.
"They were only able to fund about a third of the requests that came in. So while that's a big chunk of money, it's far from the need," Traynor said.
