BOISE, Idaho — The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is set to hear arguments Monday for Johnson v. Grants Pass on whether a city can ticket homeless people for camping in public areas with nowhere else to go.
The current precedent, set in the 9th circuit court through Martin v. Boise (2018), established this violated the 8th amendment. It is 'cruel and unusual punishment' to enforce such an ordinance when no shelter beds are available for the people experiencing homeless.
"It makes no sense. It doesn't solve the problem," Martin v. Boise lawyer Howard Belodoff said. "You might as well put a scarlet letter on them. We're going to create a caste system, like in India, and they're going to be the untouchables at the lower end."
Belodoff is not involved in Johnson v. Grants Pass; however, he is following the case closely because of its nationwide implications. Overwriting the 9th circuit ruling on Boise v. Martin opens cities across the country to do the same - criminalize the act of being homeless.
"They just have to copy Grant Pass' three ordinances, make it illegal, and just drive them out of town," Belodoff said. "But where are [the homeless people] going? Where do you want them to go? They're still homeless."
To qualify as an open bed - an alternative available to a person to get off the street - the bed must be low-barrier, according to Belodoff. Interfaith Sanctuary is in the process of remodeling the old State Street Salvation Army in Boise into a 24/7 emergency shelter with 205 low-barrier beds.
At their current facility in downtown Boise, Interfaith turns away up to 30 people a night in the most extreme weather conditions.
"We use all of our floor," Interfaith Executive Director Jodi Peterson-Stigers said. "And that's been going on for a while now."
The potential Grant Pass ruling concerns Peterson-Stigers. People experiencing chronic homelessness still use Interfaith after previously experiencing pre-Martin treatment.
"It feels like we're going backward instead of forward," Peterson-Stigers said. "These are real people who really are just trying to survive one night at a time."
Belodoff expects SCOTUS to provide a ruling by the end of June. The court previously denied an appeal the same issue; however, the court accepted the appeal - Johnson v. Grants Pass - this time around.
"Well, that's your answer. [SCOTUS] changed," Belodoff said. "The Constitution didn't change. The analysis didn't change. The ordinances didn't change. The homeless people didn't change. That's the only thing that changed."
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