Back in Oregon, at least one group opposing the appeal — Stop The Sweeps PDX — is planning a protest in Portland related to the case.
The case stems from a 2022 decision by an appeals court decision that ruled the city of Grants Pass could not issue citations to people sleeping outside if there was no shelter space available. The court said doing so was a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
The case was in response to a 2018 decision in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Martin v. Boise, which originally ruled that citing people for sleeping outside was cruel and unusual punishment. That decision has had massive implications for cities and county governments in some western states on how they’re allowed to address public homelessness in their jurisdictions.
The city of Grants Pass appealed the decision, with the Supreme Court deciding in January to hear the case.
Organizers of the Portland protest said it will be one of more than a dozen demonstrations across the nation. Protesters will meet near Pioneer Courthouse, where Martin v. Boise was originally decided six years earlier.
“Our message is that it is cruel and unusual punishment to criminalize unhoused people for sleeping, sitting, eating, and conducting other life-sustaining activities in public when actual housing is not available,” a press release from the group states.
The Supreme Court decision comes as Portland city council member and mayoral candidate Rene Gonzalez said he wants to give the mayor’s office more power to unilaterally decide how camping bans are set up and enforced in the city. His proposed ordinance also calls for violators to be jailed for up to 30 days.
Meanwhile, the city of Bend has conducted sweeps of homeless camps within the last year, with officials there saying the large camps pose a risk to public health. The removal of a longstanding camp on Hunnell Road last July was opposed by some officials from the U.S. Forest Service and Deschutes County.
