Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
Page Number: 50.0

6 

CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

clude personal documents needed for accessing jobs, hous-
ing,  and  services  such  as  IDs,  driver’s  licenses,  financial 
documents, birth certificates, and benefits cards; items re-
quired  for  work  such  as  clothing  and  uniforms,  bicycles, 
tools, and computers; and irreplaceable mementos.”  Brief 
for 57 Social Scientists as Amici Curiae 17–18 (Social Sci-
entists Brief ).  Consider Erin  Spencer, a disabled Marine
Corps veteran who stores items he uses to make a living, 
such  as  tools  and  bike  parts,  in  a  cart.  He  was  arrested 
repeatedly for illegal lodging.  Each time, his cart and be-
longings were gone once he returned to the sidewalk.  “[T]he
massive number of times the City or State has taken all I
possess leaves me in a vacuous déjà vu.”  Brief for National 
Coalition for Homeless Veterans et al. as Amici Curiae 28. 
Incarceration  and  warrants  from  unpaid  fines  can  also
result in the loss of employment, benefits, and housing op-
tions.  See Social Scientists Brief 13, 17 (incarceration and 
warrants can lead to “termination of federal health benefits 
such as Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid,” the “loss of 
a shelter bed,” or disqualification from “public housing and 
  Finally,  criminalization  can  lead
Section  8  vouchers”).
homeless  people  to  “avoid  calling  the  police  in  the  face  of 
abuse or theft for fear of eviction from public space.”  Id., at 
27.  Consider  the  tragic  story  of  a  homeless  woman  “who
was  raped  almost  immediately  following  a  police  move-
along order that pushed her into an unfamiliar area in the
dead of night.”  Id., at 26.  She described her hesitation in 
calling for help: “What’s the point?  If I called them, they
would have made all of us move [again].”  Ibid. 

For people with nowhere else to go, fines and jail time do
not deter behavior, reduce homelessness, or increase public 
safety.  In one study, 91% of homeless people who were sur-
veyed “reported remaining outdoors, most often just moving 
two to three blocks away” when they received a move-along
order.  Id., at 23.  Police officers in these cities recognize as
much:  “ ‘Look  we’re  not  really  solving  anybody’s  problem.