Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
Page Number: 46.0

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CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

At  the  same  time,  States  and  cities  face  immense  chal-
lenges  in  responding  to  homelessness.    To  address  these 
challenges  and  provide  for  public  health  and  safety,  local
governments  need  wide  latitude,  including  to  regulate 
when, where, and how homeless people sleep in public.  The 
decision below did, in fact, leave cities free to punish “litter-
ing, public urination or defecation, obstruction of roadways, 
possession or distribution of illicit substances, harassment, 
or violence.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. 200a.  The only question 
for  the  Court  today  is  whether  the  Constitution  permits 
punishing  homeless  people  with  no  access  to  shelter  for 
sleeping in public with as little as a blanket to keep warm. 
It is possible to acknowledge and balance the issues fac-
ing local governments, the humanity and dignity of home-
less people, and our constitutional principles.  Instead, the 
majority  focuses  almost  exclusively  on  the  needs  of  local 
governments and leaves the most vulnerable in our society 
with an impossible choice: Either stay awake or be arrested. 
The Constitution provides a baseline of rights for all Amer-
icans rich and poor, housed and unhoused.  This Court must 
safeguard those rights even when, and perhaps especially
when, doing so is uncomfortable or unpopular.  Otherwise, 
“the words of the Constitution become little more than good 
advice.”  Trop v. Dulles, 356 U. S. 86, 104 (1958) (plurality 
opinion). 

I 
The causes, consequences, and experiences of homeless-
ness are complex and interconnected.  The majority paints
a  picture  of  “cities  across  the  American  West”  in  “crisis”
that are using criminalization as a last resort.  Ante, at 1. 
That  narrative  then  animates  the  majority’s  reasoning.
This  account,  however,  fails  to  engage  seriously  with  the
precipitating causes of homelessness, the damaging effects 
of criminalization, and the myriad legitimate reasons peo-
ple may lack or decline shelter.