OPINION | Johnson v. Grants Pass Is the Latest Failure to Help and Protect Our Unhoused Neighbors

by Michele Storms

Similar to numerous cities in America, Seattle grapples with housing unaffordability, a rising homeless population, and ongoing discussions about public safety. Unfortunately, in situations like these, people experiencing homelessness are often dehumanized and become convenient scapegoats for societal challenges.

Cities have long turned to criminalization to address homelessness, and recently the United States Supreme Court waded into the fray.

Johnson v. Grants Pass is the most significant Supreme Court case about homelessness in decades. Their decision opens the door to a country that punishes people for being unhoused. It will take fierce advocacy to ensure a more compassionate and effective approach.

The 2018 case began in Grants Pass, Oregon, when the city began issuing tickets to people sleeping in public with minimal protection, like blankets, when there were not enough safe, accessible shelter beds.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the unhoused plaintiffs and found that the city's ordinance was unconstitutional. Grants Pass appealed the decision, and the case was brought before the United States Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruled against the unhoused plaintiffs, stating that the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit cities from punishing unhoused people for sleeping in public, even in the absence of shelter beds.

It is difficult to overstate how consequential this decision is and how it opens our most vulnerable neighbors to even more attacks, simply for having no other choice but to exist outside.

The government's power to punish the most vulnerable among us — our unhoused neighbors — for fundamentally human behavior is exactly what the Eighth Amendment was intended to constrain, and what Article 1, Section 14 of Washington's Constitution prohibits. It is harder to imagine a starker example of excessive punishment than punishing a person for sleeping outside at night with only a blanket.

The decision fits within a long history of governments turning to policing and incarceration as a solution to social issues. We cannot punish our way out of homelessness and poverty. Arrest, fines, and incarceration only further entrench homelessness by separating people from essential support systems, perpetuating a cycle of instability that keeps people on the street.

Systemic issues require systemic evidence-based solutions. Homelessness can only be solved when everyone has access to safe, affordable housing, equal access to medical and mental health care, and other essential social services.

Over the coming months, jurisdictions across the country, emboldened by the Supreme Court's decision, undoubtedly will enact additional ordinances that criminalize the existence of people experiencing homelessness. The over 650,000 unhoused people in the United States are more vulnerable than ever.

While the Supreme Court's decision is disappointing, it was not unexpected. Advocates and service providers have been preparing for this outcome and will continue to do essential on-the-ground work to aid our unhoused neighbors.

The fight doesn't stop here. The ACLU of Washington is continuing to pursue legal strategies to provide protections to unhoused individuals under our state Constitution. While both the Washington State Constitution and the United States Constitution have provisions protecting people from excessive punishment, our state Constitution is, in some ways, more protective than its federal counterpart.

The federal Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, but the Washington State Constitution prohibits cruel punishment under Article 1, Section 14. Without the requirement that the punishment also be unusual, our state Constitution offers greater protections than the federal one.

Unhoused people are vulnerable, and they are also our neighbors and community members. Elected officials are empowered to perpetuate criminalization by a public discourse that fosters fear and suspicion toward unhoused people. It is crucial that we challenge this harmful narrative.

Everyone in our community deserves to be and feel safe, and we must collectively fight to make sure this is true and ensure everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

The South Seattle Emerald is committed to holding space for a variety of viewpoints within our community, with the understanding that differing perspectives do not negate mutual respect amongst community members.

The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the contributors on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the Emerald or official policies of the Emerald.

Michele Storms is the executive director of ACLU-WA.

📸 Featured Image: The "Equal Justice Under Law" engraving above the entrance to the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., in 2016. Photo via Bob Korn/Shutterstock.com