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Pressure builds for U.S. Supreme Court to get involved in legal dispute over homeless encampments
Seattle latest to join amicus brief requesting the justices review the case of Johnson v. City of Grants Pass.
The city of Seattle is joining more than a dozen other governmental entities in signing an amicus brief requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of Johnson v. City of Grants Pass.
The Johnson v. Grants Pass ruling affirmed a permanent injunction that enjoined, or stopped, a city ordinance enforcing public camping prohibitions unless the city first provides shelter beds for each homeless individual in the jurisdiction.
The brief also calls out the 9th Circuit Court's decision regarding Martin v. Boise, which currently applies to Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon and Washington. The ruling was made prior to Johnson v. Grants Pass and explicitly states that even where shelter is unavailable, “an ordinance prohibiting sitting, lying, or sleeping outside at particular times or in particular locations might well be constitutionally permissible.”
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison announced her signature on the amicus brief, saying the Ninth Circuit’s decision “strips local authority from a complex problem.”
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/seattle-joins-push-supreme-court-review-over-camping-ban-enforcement