US Supreme Court rules cities can punish homeless people sleeping
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that cities can now criminalize sleeping outside, even if they have no access to a shelter.
unbranded – Newsworthy
Note: This is the first in a continuing series on homelessness in Mississippi.
In recent years, lawmakers in Mississippi have tried to address the growing homeless population with little success. A recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court could make the issue of the homeless and the unhoused even more complicated.
The Supreme Court essentially ruled that it can be illegal to camp in public places. The federal ruling could give momentum to Mississippi’s legislative efforts.
Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, said although his bill, SB 2615, died in committee this year, the Supreme Court ruling could make it easier to persuade his fellow lawmakers to join his efforts in combatting homelessness in the state.
His bill, if passed, would make it illegal to sleep and do other activities in certain public places, such as near schools, residences, parks and libraries. It also would make it illegal to sleep in areas designated by lawmakers as vital to their communities.
Fillingane said the Supreme Court ruling made it clear that “people can’t just lay their head where they want to.” The ruling gives local and state government the authority to place restrictions on where people can or cannot sleep.
But the Mississippi legislation is not intended to leave unhoused people out in the cold. The bill allows for the “humane” removal of homeless encampments on public and private property.
“It’s a very interesting issue,” Fillingane said. “I think the studies that I’ve looked at and articles I’ve read show that the vast majority of the homeless population either has illegal drug issues or mental health issues or a combination of both.”
Fillingane said the bill is not intended to be punitive. It would provide a way to help an unhoused person find resources for mental health or substance abuse treatment, housing and other areas of need — if they will accept it.
“It stinks that Mississippi can’t intervene, even if they say they don’t want help or don’t need help,” Fillingane said. “Clearly, if they are homeless and suffering from mental health issues or illegal drug abuse issues, they need help.
“At this point, it’s maybe an opportunity now for the state to bring out a crisis health unit and screen the person and offer them some help. That is the gist of what we are trying to accomplish.”
The bill is not a one-stop solution, Fillingane said. There will be challenges to the unhoused and to the government agencies who would be tasked with helping them. Mississippi is a poor state that doesn’t have a lot of resources to support a large population of unhoused people, he added.
But that is not an excuse to do nothing, he said. He pointed out that some states are investing a lot of money to invest in solutions for the housing crisis and getting help for the unhoused in whatever capacity. Other states are buckling down and shutting out the unhoused population altogether.
“I don’t want us to be either of those,” Fillingane said. “Thankfully we have one of the lowest homeless populations in the country, so we have fewer people to deal with, but we also have more finite resources than the larger, richer states.
“I would love for us to try to be innovative, and try some of these early interventions and sit down with the crisis, mental health or drugs teams that come out. Not to lock anyone up, but just to say, ‘Here are some resources. Can we help you?’ Not everyone is going to be accepting of that, but it’s a free society, and you can’t force someone to do what they don’t want to do, unless of course they are a harm to themselves or a harm to others.”
Fillingane said while his heart goes out to the unhoused people, he also has to be concerned about matters of public health and safety. But when he started looking into the state’s legislation on homeless issues, he found there wasn’t much.
“There used to be some vagrancy statutes, but they’ve gotten watered down, several years back because of concerns about Constitutional issues,” he said. “We need to get something more comprehensive and more holistic on the books that will empower our local government officials and law enforcement to be able to go out and conduct an interview and see if any intervention needs to take place and assist that individual in getting back on track.”
Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, introduced a different type of legislation that she is also hoping to reintroduce in the next session. She wants Mississippi law to provide a way for unhoused people to obtain identification that can be used for job applications, housing applications and obtaining medical and social services.
She said the bill would allow law enforcement to create a system for determining identification and providing a person with ID that would help them apply for assistance.
“It’s not just a one-avenue solution, it has to be a multi-faceted approach when we are trying to address homelessness,” Summers said. “I saw that (identification bill) as a low-hanging fruit.”
She said House Speaker Jason White is hoping to address housing issues in the next legislative session and is already getting legislators from both parties and community members involved in talks to determine how best to help the unhoused.
“I have to give kudos to Speaker White. He has ushered in a spirit of cooperation,” Summers said. “I think we’re heading in the right direction. We’re trying to help people, not penalize them for their circumstances.”
Major decision: U.S. Supreme Court allows cities to ban homeless encampments
Supreme Court ruling paves way for states, municipalities
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling in late June that paved the way for states and local governments to make it illegal to camp in public places. Previously, a lower court’s ruling in Martin vs. Boise determined that enforcing bans on public camps with fines and imprisonment constituted cruel and unusual punishment — a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
The Supreme Court, however, said in Johnson vs. Grants Pass that people without homes can be arrested and fined for sleeping in public spaces.
The decision came as record numbers of Americans lack permanent housing and as both Democratic and Republican leaders have complained that a 2018 decision by a lower court has hamstrung their ability to address homeless encampments that threaten health and public safety, according to a story in USA TODAY.
“The Court cannot say that the punishments Grants Pass imposes here qualify as cruel and unusual,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, referring to the small Oregon municipality at the center of the case.
Grants Pass, Oregon, with a population of fewer than 40,000, has roughly 600 unhoused people — 150 per 10,000 residents. That’s a rather large number compared with Mississippi’s estimated 1,000 unhoused in the entire state reported in 2023 by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. At 3.3 unhoused people per 10,000 residents, the state has the lowest rate per capita in the nation.
Many unhoused people are not accounted for, however, so the NAEH figures are not entirely accurate, but since the organization’s method of counting those who are unhoused is consistent from year to year, the data is reliable.
Most of Mississippi’s unhoused residents are concentrated in urban settings, though, creating larger numbers in cities such as Jackson, where more than a third of the state’s unhoused reportedly live. The Gulf Coast has the second-highest concentration, with more than 250 unhoused residents, according to NAEH.
Analysis: U.S. Supreme Court ruling on homelessness explained
Does banning encampments provide a solution?
On any given night in the United States, more than 600,000 people are likely to be homeless, according to the federal government. Last year, 40% of homeless individuals slept under bridges, on sidewalks, in parks, cars, abandoned buildings and other public locations, USA TODAY reported. The number of unsheltered people in Mississippi is closer to 50%.
Making it virtually illegal for people to sleep in public places didn’t sit well with the dissenting Supreme Court justices.
“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. “For some people, sleeping outside is their only option.”
Sotomayor noted that Grants Pass jails and fines people who sleep in public, such as in a car, or for using as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow. “For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless,” she wrote. “That is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”
Fillingane said just removing an unhoused person from one location without providing support or an alternative only causes them to move to another location.
“It’s not a matter of just shooing them off,” he said. “It’s a matter of how can we as a state address the issues and get you to a stable living situation and not just get you to the next state over. You’ve got to try to address the root cause of the problem. You can’t do that if you don’t know what it is.”
Fillingane said that just making it illegal to sleep in public areas will not put an end to homelessness. He said there needs to be a number of available resources to assist with mental health issues, substance abuse and other needs.
“If we can help some of them, I think that’s our obligation,” he said.
What is homelessness?
Many people imagine homelessness as an individual living on the street without a place to go at night for shelter, but there is more to being homeless than that simple description.
For the purpose of this and future stories on homelessness, the Clarion Ledger is providing a list of terms and definitions for our readers:
A homeless person is one who is without a home, often one who is living on the streets. The term “homeless” and “homelessness” are most commonly used in lay terms and by government agencies.An unhoused or houseless person is one who has no physical address, whether they live on the streets, in a tent or have temporary lodging at a shelter or other location.An unsheltered person is one who is without shelter, for instance a tent or other place to get out of the elements.Housing insecurity happens when a person does not have stable or adequate housing, including those who are being evicted or regularly come up short when paying their monthly bills.
Federal law goes even further when describing who is a homeless individual:
A person who is lacking a regular, adequate nighttime residence.A person whose residence is a public or private place not typically used for sleeping, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport or campground.A person living in a temporary shelter, transitional housing, hotel rooms or other private accommodations paid for by the government or a charitable organization.A person who was in a shelter or place not meant for human habitation and is leaving an institution where he or she temporarily resided, for instance, a drug rehabilitation facility, a hospital or prison.A person who is being evicted from their home or is no longer able to afford their current housing and have no means to secure another home.A person who has been without permanent housing of their own for long periods (couch surfing between friends and family, for instance); those who are housing-unstable, meaning they move frequently because of their inability to consistently pay for housing.People who have chronic disabilities, illnesses or mental health conditions, substance addiction, history of domestic violence or childhood abuse or have multiple barriers to employment also may be considered homeless under certain conditions.
Jackson: Mayor Lumumba defends homeless project, sets ambitious goal
What are Mississippi cities doing to alleviate homeless conditions?
Hattiesburg and Jackson in recent years have allocated resources to fund a resource coordinator for those who are unhoused. The coordinators help unhoused people locate resources for housing and other services, through nonprofit organizations and government programs, including access to temporary shelter, food, healthcare, mental health assessment and substance abuse treatment.
Hattiesburg also enacted an ordinance making it illegal to panhandle in public places. Panhandling is allowed on private property if the person has permission from the property owner.
Starkville Strong, a nonprofit organization, is working to reduce the number of unhoused people in the university town. The group has a number of programs to help people who are at-risk of becoming homeless or who are already unhoused.
Southaven in 2023 created an ordinance like Grants Pass, Oregon, that bans sleeping in public places, according to the DeSoto Times.
Ocean Springs officials also are taking steps to remove people sleeping in tents, including those on private property, WLOX reported in January.
In Biloxi, the Catholic Diocese is turning a former school where unhoused people are already setting up camp into a place where they can find resources to help them with their situations, the Sun Herald reported. Working with other organizations, the facility will be filled with tiny houses, according to the Sun Herald, which said the homeless population grew by about 20% in the last year.
Fillingane said the state Senate is planning to have a series of hearings in the fall to talk about how to address the homeless crisis. The schedule for the hearings has not been announced. The House, too, is exploring what it should do in term of addressing the issue of homelessness in Mississippi.
Hattiesburg: Addressing panhandling and homelessness is a complex issue, city official says.
USA TODAY reporters Maureen Groppe and Bart Jansen contributed to this story.
Have you ever been without a home? Tell us about your experience. Contact Lici Beveridge at [email protected]. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.
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Publish date : 2024-09-04 22:45:00
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