At the end of June, the US Supreme Court upheld an Oregon city’s ban on outdoor camping. The court’s decision means that people experiencing homelessness can be arrested, ticketed and fined for sleeping outside, even when there are no alternatives.
The case centred on the city of Grants Pass where, in 2019, a class action lawsuit was brought against the municipal authorities for fining and jailing people who were sheltering outdoors in tents. A judge found that enforcing such a ban would amount to “cruel and unusual punishment”, but this was overturned once it reached the Supreme Court.
Estimates from the US suggest that around 653,000 people experience homelessness on any given night. In Canada, the number is around 32,000. The US rate per capita is about 1.5 times that of Canada, though this varies widely across different cities and regions. Makeshift tent encampments providing basic spaces of shelter and safety have been established across North America, acting as stark visual reminders of growing housing crises.
