The Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on a case that will determine whether localities across the country can criminalize sleeping in public — even when shelters are unavailable and homeless individuals have nowhere else to go.
Advocates who work with the local homeless population and on housing issues in Virginia are anxiously awaiting a decision, concerned about the potential reverberating effects.
Mark Stevens, executive director of Standup for Kids — a nonprofit in Virginia Beach that offers a range of services for youth, including housing support — said he doesn’t believe the ruling would have an immediate impact in the city.
City officials are working “head on” to address homelessness in meaningful ways, he said. He doesn’t believe there would be an interest in criminalizing those without shelter. But he worries for those in other localities across the nation and state.
“Our jails are full,” he said. “We don’t need to add more people to that. Criminalizing homelessness is just not the answer.”
The case stems from Grants Pass, a small city in Oregon that outlawed sleeping and camping on public land despite not offering any city shelters. The city had issued fines starting at $295 to people who violated the law.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the city’s law violated the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment. Grants Pass has argued fines and short jail terms for camping on public property are not cruel and unusual punishments.
In Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Supreme Court can now either affirm or reverse that ruling, or dismiss the case. The high court could issue a ruling in the case as soon as Wednesday.
Dozens of cities and states have filed amicus briefs to weigh in. Some legislators, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have argued lawmakers need more options to address homelessness.
“Encampments are dangerous — period,” Newsom wrote in an amicus brief. “The United States Supreme Court can establish a balance that allows enforcement of reasonable limits on camping in public spaces, while still respecting the dignity of those living on our streets.”
A coalition of 24 states led by Republican attorneys general, including Virginia’s Jason Miyares, filed another amicus brief arguing that homeless encampments lead to disease outbreaks and other health hazards and states need authority to make individual decisions to address the growing problem.
“The underlying causes (of homelessness) are usually difficult to decipher, and the best solutions surely vary by locality,” it continued. “But the complexity of these issues underscores the need for States and local governments to have the freedom to address them in their own ways.”
Others fear overturning the lower court’s ruling would demonize those who are unable to afford housing.
“If this Supreme Court obliterates the Eighth Amendment’s modest protections for unhoused people, it will send a powerful, painful and dehumanizing message that will reverberate beyond the courts,” Sara Rankin, professor at Seattle University School of Law, said during a virtual panel on homelessness earlier this month.
There are 5,975 homeless people, 15% of whom will be unsheltered, in Virginia on any given night, according to the estimations from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Broken down by area that includes 243 in Virginia Beach, 439 on the Peninsula, and 773 altogether in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Isle of Wight and Southampton County.
Isabel McLain, director of policy and advocacy for the Virginia Housing Alliance, said fining or jailing those with nowhere else to go won’t solve the problem.
“We cannot arrest and punish our way out of homelessness,” she said. “We have to provide affordable housing and support services for people to be healthy and stable. Housing someone in a jail does nothing for improving their life and it cost the state a lot of money as well.”
McLain suspects some view criminalizing homelessness as a solution because they believe most people without housing are at fault and deserve to be punished.
“No matter how the court rules, it’s clear there is a lot of work to be done,” she said. “We need to do quite a bit of rethinking in this country.”
Antipas Harris, chief executive director of the Urban Renewal Center in Norfolk, said he comes across those who are homeless for a range of reasons.
He explained some are elderly and don’t have a support system, others suffer from mental or physical disabilities or addiction. Many have low-paying jobs and are unable to keep up with the cost of rent. He said flooding and sea level rise are also limiting the amount of livable space in the city.
“The housing market is ridiculous,” he said.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Hampton Roads ranges from $1,250 in Portsmouth to $1,540 in both Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, according to Zumper, a digital marketplace for renters and property managers.
“I think it’s a tragedy that we have gotten to the point in this country that we want to criminalize people who are unable to pay for housing,” Harris said. “It is a travesty for humanity.”
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
