Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
Page Number: 53.0

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

9 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

person who camps in a park after receiving that order com-
mits criminal trespass, which is punishable by a maximum 
of 30 days in jail and a $1,250 fine.  Ore. Rev. Stat. §164.245
(2023); see §§161.615(3), 161.635(1)(c). 

In 2019, the Ninth Circuit held that “ ‘the Eighth Amend-
ment prohibits the imposition of criminal penalties for sit-
ting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for home-
less  individuals  who  cannot  obtain  shelter.’ ”    Martin  v. 
Boise, 920 F. 3d 584, 616, cert. denied, 589 U. S. ___ (2019). 
Considering an ordinance from Boise, Idaho, that made it a 
misdemeanor  to  use  “streets,  sidewalks,  parks,  or  public 
places” for “camping,” 920 F. 3d, at 603, the court concluded 
that “as long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the 
government  cannot  criminalize  indigent,  homeless  people 
for sleeping outdoors, on public property,” id., at 617. 

Respondents here, two longtime residents of Grants Pass
who are homeless and sleep in their cars, sued on behalf of
themselves and all other involuntarily homeless people in 
the City, seeking to enjoin enforcement of the Ordinances.
The District Court eventually certified a class and granted
summary  judgment  to  respondents.    “As  was  the  case  in 
Martin,  Grants  Pass  has  far  more  homeless  people  than
‘practically available’ shelter beds.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. 
179a.  The City had “zero emergency shelter beds,” and even 
counting  the  beds  at  the  Gospel  Rescue  Mission  (GRM),
which is “the only entity in Grants Pass that offers any sort
of temporary program for some class members,” “GRM’s 138 
beds  would  not  be  nearly  enough  to  accommodate  the  at
least  602  homeless  individuals  in  Grants  Pass.”    Id.,  at 
179a–180a.  Thus, “the only way for homeless people to le-
gally sleep on public property within the City is if they lay 
on  the  ground  with  only  the  clothing  on  their  backs  and 
without their items near them.”  Id., at 178a. 

The District Court entered a narrow injunction.  It con-
cluded that Grants Pass could “implement time and place 
restrictions  for  when  homeless  individuals  may  use  their