The Supreme Court could make homelessness worse in America

The Supreme Court must reject incarceration as a response to homelessness
By CHESA BOUDIN - BRENDAN COX - MIRIAM ARONI KRINSKY

More than 650,000 people in this country have nowhere to sleep. Since the end of pandemic-era financial support, homelessness has been on the rise in nearly every demographic group across the United States. Nearly one third of people suffering from housing insecurity are adults and children in families, and thirteen percent are veterans.

Yet, our policymakers – from local government to Congress – have failed to make a meaningful difference in providing a pathway to shelter for our most vulnerable populations. Instead of investing in affordable housing, behavioral health services, and other community-based supports, some government leaders are relying on the same presumption that has failed to improve safety and well-being for decades: that incarceration is the solution. On Monday, that fight will go to the Supreme Court.

On April 22, the Court will hear oral arguments in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, a widely watched case that will decide whether local governments can criminalize individuals living outside even when adequate shelter is not available. A lower court ruled that doing so was cruel and unusual punishment. Yet some local leaders – including those from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Phoenix and 22 states – decried the decision and argued that this ruling inhibits their ability to clear encampments and attend to the needs of these individuals.

These are not easy issues and consensus solutions have yet to take hold nationwide. Yet we should be able to agree that punishing and incarcerating unhoused people will not address the root causes of the housing crisis or improve public safety – it’s simply a way (at best) to make homelessness less visible. Moreover, this approach may actually exacerbate the very problem these local leaders claim to want to address. We can’t arrest, incarcerate and punish our way out of this complex problem.

More:
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/20/the-could-make-homelessness-worse-in-america/