STATEMENT: Advocates Urge Supreme Court to Protect the Rights of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
On April 3, with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Law Center for Better Housing, Much Shelist, P.C., and 25 other amici, Legal Council for Health Justice submitted an amicus brief supporting people experiencing homelessness in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 22 in the case Grants Pass v. Johnson. The case comes out of a challenge to a set of ordinances in Grants Pass, Oregon. The “anti-camping” ordinances at issue were written so broadly, they permitted police officers to fine and eventually jail people for existing on public property with a blanket. The trial court struck down the ordinances and the Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that it is cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to fine or arrest people who sleep outside with blankets, when they have no other place to go.
Fining and jailing perpetuate the root causes of homelessness. People become homeless for many reasons, but common causes pervade: stable housing is out of reach due to unaffordability; belonging to groups historically denied the ability to build generational wealth and excluded from opportunities to obtain adequate income; inadequate health care and community support services for people living with severe and disabling physical and behavioral health conditions. We know that people do not become homeless by choice, but rather because of the failure of multiple systems.
Our amicus shares our perspective from serving people experiencing homelessness in Chicago with the Court, including our work with Mr. Johnson1:
Members of our Homeless Outreach Project (HOP) team met Mr. Johnson, age 40, in May 2021 during outreach at a public library. He reported being homeless for 20 years, after discharge from the military, and described numerous disabling conditions that made work impossible. Mr. Johnson lived next to a highway in a structure he built within the shrubbery. He wanted stability, income, and housing, but had tried and failed to secure federal disability benefits since 2008. He did not have a phone so could not follow up with his Supplemental Security Income (SSI) application, and Social Security Administration (SSA) offices were closed due to COVID. To stay in contact with him, the we partnered with street outreach teams who provided medical care and resources to Mr. Johnson. Finally, in September 2022, 14 years after his first attempt, he was awarded disability benefits. After his benefits were approved and his healthcare was stabilized, he was able to move in with a family member.
Civil penalties and jailing do not offer solutions to homelessness; but as Mr. Johnson’s story demonstrates, collaboration to build paths towards stability can.
“Homelessness is a public health and affordable housing crisis, requiring urgent, meaningful, and collaborative action across many sectors,” explained Lisa Parsons (she/her), Legal Director of our Homeless Outreach Project. “There are systemic obstacles to housing and income that we need to dismantle,” agreed Meghan Carter (she/her), Senior Staff Attorney, who drafted portions of the brief for Legal Council. “Municipalities can’t fine and jail their way out of homelessness.”
Legal Council for Health Justice urges the Court not to further burden the 44,000 Illinoisans and over 250,000 people nationwide who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness. We need approaches that allow people to access income, housing, and healthcare; any other approach moves us farther away from solutions.
1 Name changed for confidentiality purposes.