Across the country, cities have taken to cracking down on people who lack housing — not by finding them places to live, but by kicking them out of the places they are seeking shelter. These mass encampment evictions owe in part to a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, that allowed cities to enforce bans on public camping even if shelters in the area are full.

That decision drew immediate condemnation from Carrie Ann Shirota, policy director at ACLU of Hawaii, who said in a press release, “The U.S. Supreme Court’s terrible ruling continues in the shameful tradition of choosing to remove unhoused people from public view rather than provide our community members with the resources they actually need: affordable housing and support services.”

Following the court’s

See Full Page