Cities that want to hide homelessness can criminalize sleeping in public. They can even jail repeat offenders. The Supreme Court upheld these measures in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson on June 28, 2024.
Grants Pass, Oregon, the city at the center of the decision, is not the only one testing how far it can go to address homelessness without violating the Constitution. Other jurisdictions have their own ways of keeping the housing problem out of sight.
