Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
Page Number: 49

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

5 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

ble for wheelchair use.”  Brief for Disability Rights Educa-
tion and Defense Fund et al. as Amici Curiae 2 (Disability
Rights Brief ). 

B 
States  and  cities  responding  to  the  homelessness  crisis
face the difficult task of addressing the underlying causes 
of homelessness while also providing for public health and 
safety.  This includes, for example, dealing with the hazards
posed by encampments, such as “a heightened risk of dis-
ease  associated  with  living  outside  without  bathrooms  or
wash  basins,”  “deadly  fires”  from  efforts  to  “prepare  food 
and create heat sources,” violent crime, and drug distribu-
tion and abuse.  California Brief 12. 

Local  governments  need  flexibility  in  responding  to
homelessness with effective and thoughtful solutions.  See 
infra, at 19–21.  Almost all of these policy solutions are be-
yond  the  scope  of  this  case.  The  only  question  here  is
whether  the  Constitution  permits  criminalizing  sleeping 
outside when there is nowhere else to go.  That question is
increasingly  relevant  because  many  local  governments
have  made  criminalization  a  frontline  response  to  home-
lessness.  “[L]ocal measures to criminalize ‘acts of living’ ” 
by “prohibit[ing] sleeping, eating, sitting, or panhandling in
public spaces” have recently proliferated.  U. S. Interagency 
Council  on  Homelessness,  Searching  Out  Solutions  1 
(2012).

Criminalizing  homelessness  can  cause  a  destabilizing
cascade  of  harm.  “Rather  than  helping  people  to  regain 
housing,  obtain  employment,  or  access  needed  treatment 
and services, criminalization creates a costly revolving door 
that circulates individuals experiencing homelessness from
the street to the criminal justice system and back.”  Id., at 
6.  When a homeless person is arrested or separated from
their property, for example, “items frequently destroyed in-