2 Years After Grants Pass, 14 States, 350 Cities Have Tougher Laws on Street Homelessness

It’s Been Two Years Since the Supreme Court Made Homelessness a Crime. The Result Speaks for Itself.

Grants Pass has not solved homelessness, and things have gone from bad to worse.

The Cruelty and Futility of Criminalizing the Homeless

Sign at homeless camp, Grants Pass, Oregon. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair. Two years ago this summer, the Supreme Court paved the way for more states and cities to fine or jail people for the “crime” of not having a roof over their head. In their June 28, 2024 Grants Pass v. Johnson decision, the court ruled that an Oregon city’s ordinance barring people from sleeping in public, even when shelter is unavailable, was not “cruel and unusual punishment.…

2 years after Grants Pass, 14 states, 350 cities have tougher laws on street homelessness

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Two years since Grants Pass ruling, 350+ cities, 14 states, and the Trump administration have criminalized homelessness

Two years since the Grants Pass ruling, 350+ cities, 14 states, and the Trump administration have criminalized homelessness (Washington, D.C. – June 26th, 2026) On June 28th, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the most impactful case on homelessness in decades. In Johnson v. Grants Pass, the court ruled that cities and states could arrest, fine, and jail homeless people sleeping outside, even when they have nowhere else to go. This c…

The Cruelty and Futility of Criminalizing Homelessness

Two years ago this summer, the Supreme Court paved the way for more states and cities to fine or jail people for the “crime” of not having a roof over their head. In their June 28, 2024 Grants Pass v. Johnson decision, the court ruled that an Oregon city’s ordinance barring people from sleeping in public, even when shelter is unavailable, was not “cruel and unusual punishment.” Since then, more than 300 cities have passed bills criminalizing unh…