Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
Page Number: 74.0

30 

CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

(Douglas, J., concurring).

I remain hopeful that our society will come together “to
address the complexities of the homelessness challenge fac-
ing the most vulnerable among us.”  Ante, at 34.  That re-
sponsibility is shared by those vulnerable populations, the 
States and cities in which they reside, and each and every
one of us.  “It is only after we begin to see a street as our 
street, a public park as our park, a school as our school, that 
we  can  become  engaged  citizens,  dedicating  our  time  and
resources  for  worthwhile  causes.”    M.  Desmond,  Evicted:  
Property and Profit in the American City 294 (2016). 

This Court, too, has a role to play in faithfully enforcing 
the Constitution to prohibit punishing the very existence of 
those  without  shelter.    I  remain  hopeful  that  someday  in
the near future, this Court will play its role in safeguarding 
constitutional liberties for the most vulnerable among us.
Because the Court today abdicates that role, I respectfully
dissent.