Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
Page Number: 8.0

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

Office of Policy Development & Research, Exploring Home-
lessness Among People Living in Encampments and Asso-
ciated Cost 1 (2020) (2020 HUD Report).  As the number of 
homeless  individuals  has  grown,  the  number  of  homeless 
encampments across the country has increased as well, “in
numbers not seen in almost a century.”  Ibid.  The unshel-
tered may coalesce in these encampments for a range of rea-
sons.  Some  value  the  “freedom”  encampment  living  pro-
vides  compared  with  submitting  to  the  rules  shelters 
impose.  Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Office 
of Policy Development and Research, R. Cohen, W. Yetvin, 
& J. Khadduri, Understanding Encampments of People Ex-
periencing  Homelessness  and  Community  Responses  5 
(2019).  Others report that encampments offer a “sense of
community.”  Id., at 7.  And still others may seek them out
for “dependable access to illegal drugs.”  Ibid.  In brief, the 
reasons  why  someone  will  go  without  shelter  on  a  given 
night vary widely by the person and by the day.  See ibid. 
As  the  number  and  size  of  these  encampments  have
grown, so have the challenges they can pose for the home-
less and others.  We are told, for example, that the “expo-
nential increase in . . . encampments in recent years has re-
sulted in an increase in crimes both against the homeless
and  by  the  homeless.”    Brief  for  California  State  Sheriffs’ 
Associations et al. as Amici Curiae 21 (California Sheriffs
Brief ).  California’s Governor reports that encampment in-
habitants  face  heightened  risks  of  “sexual  assault”  and 
“subjugation to sex work.”  Brief for California Governor G. 
Newsom as Amicus Curiae 11 (California Governor Brief ).
And by one estimate, more than 40 percent of the shootings 
in Seattle in early 2022 were linked to homeless encamp-
ments.  Brief for Washington State Association of Sheriffs
and  Police  Chiefs  as  Amicus  Curiae  on  Pet.  for  Cert.  10 
(Washington Sheriffs Brief ). 

Other challenges have arisen as well.  Some city officials
indicate  that  encampments  facilitate  the  distribution  of