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Page Number: 7.0

2 

CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON 

Opinion of the Court 

I 
A 
Some  suggest  that  homelessness  may  be  the  “defining 
public  health  and  safety  crisis  in  the  western  United
States”  today.  72  F. 4th  868,  934  (CA9  2023)  (Smith,  J., 
dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc).  According to 
the federal government, homelessness in this country has
reached its highest levels since the government began re-
porting data on the subject in 2007.  Dept. of Housing and 
Urban Development, Office of Community Planning & De-
velopment, T. de Sousa et al., The 2023 Annual Homeless
Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress 2–3 (2023).  Cali-
fornia alone is home to around half of those in this Nation 
living without shelter on a given night.  Id., at 30.  And each 
of  the  five  States  with  the  highest  rates  of  unsheltered 
homelessness in the country—California, Oregon, Hawaii, 
Arizona,  and  Nevada—lies  in  the American  West.    Id., at 
17. 

Those  experiencing  homelessness  may  be  as  diverse  as 
the Nation itself—they are young and old and belong to all
races and creeds.  People become homeless for a variety of 
reasons, too, many beyond their control.  Some have been 
affected  by  economic  conditions,  rising  housing  costs,  or
natural disasters.  Id., at 37; see Brief for United States as 
Amicus  Curiae  2–3.  Some  have  been  forced  from  their 
homes  to  escape  domestic  violence  and  other  forms  of  ex-
ploitation.  Ibid.  And still others struggle with drug addic-
tion and mental illness.  By one estimate, perhaps 78 per-
cent  of  the  unsheltered  suffer  from  mental-health  issues, 
while  75  percent  struggle  with  substance  abuse.    See  J. 
Rountree,  N.  Hess,  &  A.  Lyke,  Health  Conditions  Among 
Unsheltered  Adults  in  the  U. S.,  Calif.  Policy  Lab,  Policy 
Brief 5 (2019).

Those  living  without  shelter  often  live  together.    L. 
Dunton  et al.,  Dept.  of  Housing  and  Urban  Development,