Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that prohibits the City of Boise, Idaho from enforcing an ordinance that criminalizes sleeping outdoors when the city had failed to provide adequate shelter.
The case was brought by plaintiffs who said a pair of Boise laws violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Specifically, one prohibited “camping” in streets, parks and other public property; the other prohibited “lodging or sleeping” in any place, whether public or private, without the owner’s permission.
A three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit ruled for the plaintiffs and struck down the down the laws, saying the Constitution does not allow prosecuting people for sleeping outdoors if there is no shelter available. Writing for the panel, Judge Marsha Berzon said, "the Eighth Amendment prohibits the state from punishing an involuntary act or condition if it is the unavoidable consequence of one’s status or being... As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter.” In a dissent, Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. wrote, "[u]nder the panel’s decision, local governments are forbidden from enforcing laws restricting public sleeping and camping unless they provide shelter for every homeless individual within their jurisdictions. Moreover, the panel’s reasoning will soon prevent local governments from enforcing a host of other public health and safety laws, such as those prohibiting public defecation and urination."
The petition filed by the City of Boise was joined by over 20 supporting briefs from counties, cities, law enforcement and business groups. The decision by the Supreme Court to decline review of the case leaves the Ninth Circuit ruling in place, which concluded that the city violated the Eighth Amendment when it enforced its public camping and sleeping ordinances against homeless individuals with no place else to go.