CAP Statement on the Supreme Court’s Ruling in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson
This opinion will likely sow further uncertainty and trauma for the quarter of a million people who sleep outside each night in America and for the millions of families who are just one missed paycheck away from homelessness.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, OR — CAP condemns the decision today by the Supreme Court’s in the case of City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson. Under the ruling, localities will be able to arrest, ticket, and fine people for sleeping outdoors on public property, even if leaders have failed to produce enough affordable housing or shelter for everyone in the community who needs it.
In April of this year, CAP & Oregon Food Bank led a coalition of direct service organizations in submitting an amicus brief in the case, wherein we made the argument that homelessness is an involuntary state of being, and criminalization of the status of homelessness worsens rates of homelessness, in part by reducing income-earning potential, causing trauma, and denying access to affordable services and treatment that many may need.
Despite widespread understanding that everybody needs a safe place to sleep, The Supreme Court, in a shameful yet unsurprising ruling, ruled that homeless people are not included in the Constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Further, the ruling will do nothing to address the primary cause of homelessness in the United States: a severe, prolonged, nationwide shortage of affordable housing.
“This decision sets a dangerous precedent that will cause undue harm to people experiencing homelessness and give free reign to local officials who prefer pointless and expensive arrests and imprisonment, rather than real solutions,” said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “At a time when elected officials need to be focused on long-term, sustainable solutions that are grounded in evidence – including funding the affordable housing and supportive services that their constituents need — this ruling allows leaders to shift the burden to law enforcement. This tactic has consistently failed to reduce homelessness in the past, and it will assuredly fail to reduce homelessness in the future.”
The ruling comes at a time when harmful and coercive homelessness policies are on the rise, despite opposition from frontline homeless service providers in communities all over the country. This is further amplified for folks who identify as LGBTQIA2S+. In a report released earlier this year, CAP and a coalition of Portland nonprofits that serve or advocate for unhoused LGBTQAI2S+ people, including groups like Basic Rights Oregon and Pride Northwest, released a first-of-its-kind report on houselessness among transgender and queer people in the Portland area.
“With thousands of trans and queer people potentially seeking refuge in Oregon and adding to existing demand, policymakers need to think much more about the unique needs of our communities when they think about housing and homelessness,” said Seth Johnstone, a coalition member and manager of the Transgender Justice Program at Basic Rights Oregon.
Today’s ruling will likely sow further uncertainty and trauma for the quarter of a million people who sleep outside each night in America and for the millions of families who are just one missed paycheck away from homelessness. And for those who are transgender, queer, or living with HIV, the impacts are compounded, leading to far worse health outcomes. There are no LGBTQAI2S+ culturally specific emergency shelters in the Portland region. In addition, many local shelters are gendered (i.e., designated for men or women), which can result in discrimination and a lack of safety for trans and non-binary clients.
CAP calls on federal, state and local leaders to reject the false promises of a law enforcement approach to homelessness, and instead advocate for resources our communities desperately need and address the root causes of homelessness. In addition to the recommendations from our afore mentioned report, we need our leaders to make major and sustained investments in our national and regional rental assistance programs and homelessness prevention. This means investing in the production and preservation of housing available to those with the lowest incomes and increasing investments in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Homeless Assistance programs.
Additionally, we call on the U.S. Congress and all statehouses to pass laws to preserve the very rights, including the right to exist in public, that the Supreme Court gutted.
We encourage our community actively engage with lawmakers to push back against the increasing trend towards criminalization of homelessness, and to advocate for the housing and services that our clients and communities so desperately need.
About Cascade AIDS Project
Founded in 1983 and incorporated in 1985 as the Cascade AIDS Project, CAP is the oldest and largest community-based provider of HIV services, housing, education and advocacy in Oregon and Southwest Washington. We promote well-being and advance equity by providing inclusive health and wellness services for LGBTQ+ people, people affected by HIV, and all those seeking compassionate care. When the need for affordable, accessible, and culturally affirming primary care services was identified as a community need, we responded by opening Prism Health in 2017. And in 2022, Our House of Portland joined the CAP family to further expand our service offerings and allow us to offer a full lifecycle of care to our community. To learn more about CAP, please visit www.capnw.org
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