On June 28 the US Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote that the enforcement of laws in the city of Grants Pass, Oregon that punished homeless people for sleeping outside did not violate the Constitution’s 8th amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.

In the majority opinion, which included all six conservative justices, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the causes of homelessness are many and “so may be the policy responses required to address it.” In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized what she called the majority’s misprioritization of the needs of local governments over the safety of vulnerable homeless populations.

Guest host, Jess Miller, speaks with two guests about this decision and what it means for folks experiencing homelessness in Dane County where 737 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January of this year. That’s up 18% from 2023. 

Eric Tars is the Senior Policy Director for the National Homelessness Law Center. He says that policing and criminalization don’t solve homelessness. Rather, an approach that includes universal housing, repairing existing housing programs, eviction prevention, and supportive services is the route to moving folks out of homelessness and into stable housing. 

Andrea White, is a social justice advocate who works at Madison’s YWCA. She is a member of the Homeless Services Consortium of Dane County. Andrea says that the more advocates in the community the better. The more people talk to their neighbors and alders, the greater the impact they can have educating people about homelessness.

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