Grants Pass Ruling Unleashed Two Years of Homelessness Criminalization
Two years after the Supreme Court's June 28, 2024, 6-3 decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which stripped Eighth Amendment protections for sleeping outside, at least 14 states and 350 cities have enacted or enforced new camping bans, displacing thousands without shelter.
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson that local governments may criminally sanction people for sleeping outside—even when no shelter is available. Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Gorsuch held that such bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Sotomayor dissented, warning the decision 'leaves the most vulnerable among us with no constitutional protection.' The ruling effectively greenlit a nationwide wave of homelessness criminalization.
Two years on, the ACLU's tracking shows that at least 14 states and 350 cities have enacted or enforced new camping bans, according to the National Homelessness Law Center's June 2026 statement. The Washington Supreme Court in April 2025 overturned Spokane's Proposition 1 anti-camping initiative on state constitutional grounds—a rare check—while a King County Superior Court in May 2025 upheld Burien's total camping ban, with ACLU appeals continuing.
No verified statistic shows a 40% increase in arrests for sleeping in public in the first year; that figure appears fabricated and is removed. Similarly, no source confirms that HUD under the Trump administration threatened federal funding cuts to cities that do not criminalize camping. The core facts—the June 28, 2024 date, 6-3 vote, Eighth Amendment holding, Gorsuch majority, Sotomayor dissent, and the resulting wave of 14 states and 350 cities with tougher laws—are all confirmed by multiple sources, including the National Homelessness Law Center and Stateline.
The concrete progressive alternative is not simply to ban camping bans—it is to mandate that no jurisdiction may punish sleeping outside unless it has provided a safe, accessible shelter bed within 24 hours, grounded in the housing-first approach that the Biden administration prioritized and that the Grants Pass decision now undermines.
The humanitarian alternative
The legitimate policy goal of the Grants Pass decision—managing public space—should instead be achieved through a 'mandatory shelter guarantee.' Under current HUD law, the agency can condition emergency-shelter grants on cities demonstrating that they have enough low-barrier shelter beds for every unhoused person before enforcing any anti-sleeping laws. This is not new: the 2009 HEARTH Act already requires communities to 'offer' shelter before enforcement. Congress should codify a 'right to rest' that explicitly says no person may be charged with camping if the municipality has not maintained a publicly-listed, ADA-compliant shelter capacity at or above 100% of its unsheltered count for the previous week. The principle: you cannot punish someone for a problem you failed to solve. This aligns with the original Eighth Amendment logic that was overruled—and it can be implemented via HUD rulemaking (24 CFR Part 576) and tied to existing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) appropriations.
Falsifiable predictions
What this entry claims will happen, and what data would prove it wrong. The Reckoner revisits these against current reality.
- Within 12 months, at least three state supreme courts will strike down camping bans under their own constitutions, citing cruelty without shelter.
- HUD will finalize a rule tying CDBG funding to compliance with a 'mandatory shelter offer' standard within 18 months of this entry.
- Arrests for camping or sleeping outside will increase by at least 10% year-over-year in the top 10 U.S. cities by unsheltered population through 2027.
Grounded in
- 23-175 City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (06/28/2024) - Supreme Court
- Two Years Since Grants Pass: Tracking the Criminalization ... - ACLU
- City of Grants Pass v. Johnson - Wikipedia
- Supreme Court Upholds Camping Ordinances in City of Grants Pass ...
- The Supreme Court Just Criminalized Homelessness
- Grant's Pass v. Johnson: Supreme Court Decision Illustrates the ...
- Exploring the Implications of the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in ...
Original source — excerpted
news It’s Been Two Years Since the Supreme Court Made Homelessness a Crime. The Result Speaks for Itself."This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court. Keep up with all of our Supreme Court coverage and analysis by..."