Supreme Court justices expressed concern on Monday about punishing homeless people for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go while also struggling with how to ensure local and state leaders have the flexibility to deal with the growing number of unhoused individuals nationwide.
Few doubt that the court’s decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson will be consequential for the nation’s homeless population and for those trying to help. “This case is really about whether the Constitution protects unhoused people against punishment when there is no shelter or housing available to them.”
Netflix’s The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker tells the story of a man experiencing homelessness, whose rise and fall overshadowed what may have been telltale signs of someone suffering from mental health issues.
Can a city make it a crime for unhoused people to sleep in public if there are no other places for them to go? On April 22, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on this issue in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, a case of enormous interest to the many cities that are struggling with burgeoning populations of unhoused people.
Anyone deemed to be “gravely disabled” or suffering from a significant substance abuse disorder can be placed into a conservatorship and institutionalized for an initial 72-hour hold. Longer placements can also happen.
The South Carolina Supreme Court is allowing the NAACP’s state conference to train nonlawyer volunteers to advise tenants as part of a three-year pilot program.
“Best practices have changed, and how this crisis unfolds itself is changing,” says Richard Hooks Wayman, a liaison to the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. “We thought it was time to really pick up on what we’ve been learning in the field over the last 15 years and come out with a new publication.”
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether the U.S. Constitution prevents the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, from issuing civil citations to people who violate a ban on sleeping on public property.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Tuesday that is intended to expand the categories of people who can be involuntarily detained for mental health treatment.
The federal ban on gun possession by felons doesn't appear to be affected by a 2022 Second Amendment decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The Arizona Supreme Court and the Utah Supreme Court have approved proposals to allow trained, nonlawyer advocates to provide free limited-scope representation to tenants facing housing instability.
Low-income clients overburdened by debt, transgender and nonbinary people who need help changing their names, and youths experiencing homelessness are among the groups supported this year by the American Bar Endowment’s Opportunity Grant Program.
A pastor and his assistant who were ticketed but not prosecuted for handing out bologna sandwiches to homeless people have lost their First Amendment lawsuit against the city of St. Louis.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ABA’s members, volunteers and donors have answered the call to help increase legal services and transform the justice system. The FJE hopes to build on that momentum with the 2022 ABA Giving Day.
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
