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Page Number: 15.0

10 

CITY OF GRANTS PASS v. JOHNSON 

Opinion of the Court 

Many cities further report that, rather than help allevi-
ate the homelessness crisis, Martin injunctions have inad-
vertently contributed to it.  The numbers of “[u]nsheltered 
homelessness,”  they  represent,  have  “increased  dramati-
cally in the Ninth Circuit since Martin.”  Brief for League 
of Oregon Cities et al. as Amici Curiae on Pet. for Cert. 7 
(boldface and capitalization deleted).  And, they say, Martin 
injunctions have contributed to this trend by “weaken[ing]” 
the ability of public officials “to persuade persons experienc-
ing  homelessness  to  accept  shelter  beds  and  [other]  ser-
vices.”  Brief for Ten California Cities as Amici Curiae on 
Pet. for Cert. 2.  In Portland, for example, residents report
some unsheltered persons “often return within days” of an
encampment’s clearing, on the understanding that “Martin 
. . .  and  its  progeny  prohibit  the  [c]ity  from  implementing 
more  efficacious  strategies.”  Tozer  Brief  5;  Washington
Sheriffs  Brief  14  (Martin  divests  officers  of  the  “ability  to 
compel  [unsheltered]  persons  to  leave  encampments  and 
obtain  necessary  services”).    In  short,  they  say,  Martin 
“make[s] solving this crisis harder.”  Cities Cert. Brief 3. 

All acknowledge “[h]omelessness is a complex and serious 
social issue that cries out for effective . . . responses.”  Ibid. 
But  many  States  and  cities  believe  “it  is  crucial”  for  local 
governments to “have the latitude” to experiment and find
effective responses.  Id., at 27; States Brief 13–17.  “Injunc-
tions and the threat of federal litigation,” they insist, “im-
pede  this  democratic  process,”  undermine  local  govern-
ments,  and  do  not  well  serve  the  homeless  or  others  who 
live in the Ninth Circuit.  Cities Cert. Brief 27–28. 

C 

The case before us arises from a Martin injunction issued 
against the city of Grants Pass.  Located on the banks of the 
Rogue  River  in  southwestern  Oregon,  the  city  is  home  to
roughly 38,000 people.  Among them are an estimated 600 
individuals  who  experience  homelessness  on  a  given  day.