SCOTUS Ruling on Grants Pass (criminalization of homelessness)

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Guest Blog Post by Cameron Collier

On June 28, 2024, The U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in The City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, holding that the criminalization of homelessness (individuals sleeping in public spaces) does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause.1 The ruling paves the way for similar criminal ordinances to be established throughout the United States, potentially more extreme than the ordinance in Grants Pass. For example, the City of Grants Pass had fined AND JAILED individuals for sleeping anywhere in the public, at any time.2 This included individuals sleeping in their cars if they use as little as a blanket or a pillow in an attempt to sleep more comfortably.3

The solution to the nation’s housing crisis, including the issue of housing affordability we have here in Nebraska, is not to criminalize those who cannot afford a home. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in the state of Nebraska anyone working a minimum wage job must work 68 HOURS A WEEK to be able to afford a modest 2-bedroom rental home.4 If an individual only requires a 1-bedroom rental home, they still need to work at least 55 HOURS A WEEK to afford the modest home.5

Homelessness is a complex and interconnected issue that can include crippling debt, stagnant wages, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, physical disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities.6 However, the root of the problem, something all Americans are currently facing, are rising housing and rental costs coupled with declining housing options that are affordable.7 The solution Nebraska, and the nation, should work towards, is an urgent and transparent approach to ensuring housing affordability, accessibility, and safety, not criminalization of homelessness. 

Collective Impact Lincoln is committed to ensuring housing affordability for everyone in the State of Nebraska. We believe this is especially true for the City of Lincoln, where almost HALF of all renters at all income levels find their housing to be unaffordable.8 Collective Impact Lincoln has reached out to the City of Lincoln to expressly state and make a commitment that the City will not criminally prosecute individuals for sleeping in public. As we await their response, we urge you to call upon your leaders and demand a commitment from them to ensure unhoused individuals are safely and humanely treated without being arrested.

Because as Justice Sotomayor perfectly articulated in her dissent, “sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime.”9

  1. City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 219 L. Ed. 2d. 941 (2024). ↩︎
  2. Id. at 972 (Sotomayor, J., dissenting). ↩︎
  3. Id. ↩︎
  4. National Low Income Housing Coalition, Nebraska, (July 22, 2024), https://nlihc.org/oor/state/ne. ↩︎
  5. Id. ↩︎
  6. City of Grants Pass, 219 L. Ed. 2d. at 972. ↩︎
  7. Id. ↩︎
  8. RDG Planning & Design, City of Lincoln, Nebraska: Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan, 30 (Dec. 21, 2020), https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/files/sharedassets/public/v/2/urban-development/lincoln-affordable-housing-coordinated-action-plan.pdf. ↩︎
  9. City of Grants Pass, 219 L. Ed. 2d. at 972. ↩︎
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