A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
story and photos by Jeremiah Hayden, Street Roots
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers Grants Pass v. Johnson, there’s work to do to address homelessness, regardless of outcome
Cassy Leach woke up early on April 22, the day the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Grants Pass v. Johnson across the country in Washington, D.C.
That morning, Leach, Mobile Integrative Navigation Team, or MINT,
by American Civil Liberties Union
The following transcript is an interview with Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, on At Liberty, the podcast of the ACLU. The episode dropped on April 18, before the U.S. Supreme Court started hearing the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson. It has been edited for brevity, clarity and style.
by Lukas Illa
With the room packed and members of the public spilling out to the hallway, the California Senate Committee on Public Safety rejected Senate Bill 1011, a bill that sought to criminalize homeless encampments within 500 feet of a public or private K-12 school, major transit stops and “open spaces.”
The committee voted 3-1 against SB 1011, with another one abstaining. The vote prevented the bill from moving to the full Senate.
story and photos by Jeremiah Hayden, Street Roots
Homeless residents in Grants Pass shelter in tents in parks, including Morrison Park, despite the threat of civil and criminal penalties.
Laura Gutowski resides just down the street from the Grants Pass home that she lived in for 25 years. Her son used to play baseball in Morrison Centennial Park, where she now lives in a tent not far from the diamond.
by the Western Regional Advocacy Project
On April 22, 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Gloria Johnson. The case determines if the U.S. Constitution allows for local governments to fine, arrest, and jail people for living outside, when they have nowhere else to go. Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) members are planning a day of action on April 22, 2024 to speak out for the rights of unhoused people to exist,
by Cathleen Williams, Sacramento Homeward Street Journal
“My hometown is located on a flat coastal plain once covered in brush, and intersected by rivers and creeks where pure water has bubbled up from creeks since the dawn of the Pleistocene. As a settled, human place, it has belonged to the Tongva and to three different empires. Once it was a rural outpost of the Spanish crown, and then a Mexican pueblo before it was taken by the United States and became what it is today: the newest and last megalopolis built in the western march of Western civilization across the Western Hemisphere.” –
A coalition of current and former San Francisco officials and civic organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in advance of a hearing on whether cities could penalize existing while homeless even when no shelter is available. Members of the coalition and their counsel, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, announced the filing in a press conference on Zoom.
Separately,
Mayor London Breed released a statement on March 1 reporting on a reduction in the number of tents in San Francisco due to sweeps. While the Mayor’s office credits the Healthy Streets Operation Center (HSOC), which conducts encampment removals, conflicting data indicates that revenue from the November 2018 Proposition C—”Our City, Our Home”—is in fact responsible. On the same day, the Mayor submitted an amicus brief in support of overturning the Grants Pass case,
by Nathan Sheard
San Francisco voters have a lot to consider before the March 5 election. Voting No on Proposition E should be an easy choice for anyone who is concerned with addressing our city’s challenges, rather than benefiting from them. If passed, Prop. E would significantly weaken measures meant to protect the rights and safety of San Francisco residents and visitors. If Prop. E passes, it would strip accountability for the use of dubious surveillance tools,
The Coalition on Homelessness’s lawsuit may be put on hold after the City of San Francisco filed a motion to pause the ongoing case. The City Attorney’s office announced its request to the federal district court for a stay days after the U.S. Supreme Court said on January 12 it will review an Oregon case, which has close parallels to the homeless advocacy organization’s ongoing lawsuit.
The Supreme Court will decide whether it should be illegal to arrest and cite unhoused people for unauthorized lodging without offering immediate available shelter.
