The ruling was split along ideological lines, with the conservative majority opinion stating that an ordinance enacted in an Oregon town making sleeping in public a fineable offense is constitutional. The ordinance allows an individual to be fined even if shelter space is at capacity. In the dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the decision “unconscionable,” due to the “biological necessity” of sleep.
Advocates who work in the housing and homelessness sphere believe the ruling will do little to aid unhoused individuals.
“[The] ruling does nothing to support our community to resolve homelessness,” Sarah Kahn, CEO of the North Texas branch of Housing Forward, said in a statement. “We will remain laser focused on strategies that provide meaningful solutions – those that end homelessness for our neighbors and address public health crises on our streets.”
While Dallas has made some recent gains in reducing the number of homeless individuals on its streets — last month, several federal agencies declared Dallas and Collin counties have “effectively ended” veteran homelessness — nationwide data shows tens of thousands more individuals were homeless in 2023 than in 2022.
In Dallas, crackdowns on sleeping outdoors and homeless encampments have historically been fueled by higher populations of homeless individuals.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court ruled today that cities can punish unhoused people for sleeping in public, even if they have nowhere else to go.
— ACLU (@ACLU) June 28, 2024
We cannot arrest our way out of homelessness.
Since 1995, Dallas Police have doled out thousands of tickets to individuals caught sleeping on the city’s streets or in its parks. When we checked in 2015, the punishment for sleeping outside was a $146 ticket. The Dallas Police Department could not be immediately reached to verify the current ticket cost, but a statewide ban on sleeping in pubic put into place by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021 allows for tickets up to $500.
The department also did not respond to the Observer’s inquiry into how seriously the ban is being enforced, but a 2021 statement released by Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned failing to enforce the law would result in “costly litigation and a loss of state grant funds.”
City Council member Chad West, who sits on Dallas’ Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee, told the Observer he is “appalled” by the Supreme Court’s decision. He feels the ruling is a “failure to understand the root of the problem or political implications” of criminalizing homelessness.
“In a time when our nation should be banding together to address the lack of housing, we’re instead penalizing and incarcerating individuals who don’t have safety nets in place when they lose their homes,” West said.
He believes the decision “opens a dangerous door” by shifting the burden and cost of homelessness to law enforcement, rather than encouraging cities to explore affordable housing options, fund shelters and invest in resources for the homeless.
Mandy Chapman Semple, whose firm consults with cities on homelessness solutions, said she expects the Supreme Court’s ruling to result in an “onslaught” of laws criminalizing public sleeping in states that did not already have them.
“[Dallas and Houston] are proving that it is rehousing with the services people need to stabilize and recover, not criminalization, that reduces unsheltered homelessness,” Semple said in a statement. “We cannot enforce our way out of this crisis, but we can meet this moment. No one should have to sleep outside.”
