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Homelessness

60 ABA Journal Homelessness articles.

How tough-on-crime policies shift the burden to public defenders

Across the country, criminal justice policy is undergoing yet another pendulum swing. After over a decade of reform efforts focused on decarceration and diversion, states are now reembracing the all-too-familiar tough-on-crime approaches.

Nov 24, 2025 1:55 PM CST

Budget proposal for ‘orderly closeout’ of Legal Services Corp. is ‘devastation,’ says legal aid leader

The Legal Services Corp. has requested $2.1 billion in funding for fiscal year 2026, a far cry from the administration’s $21 million request to enable an “orderly closeout” of the program, according to a Bloomberg Law story.

Jun 9, 2025 2:09 PM CDT

Once-homeless University of Chicago law grad getting treatment, hopes to return to law practice

A University of Chicago Law School graduate who lived for two years on the streets of Los Angeles has moved back home with his mother in Virginia and hopes to resume law practice.

Mar 19, 2025 12:41 PM CDT

Florida lawyer says she used trust account funds to avoid becoming homeless

An Orlando, Florida, lawyer accused of client trust account violations has said she used some settlement funds during the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid becoming homeless when she lost her primary job as a schoolteacher.

Oct 17, 2024 1:58 PM CDT

Overuse of involuntary civil commitment as approach to homelessness debated by ABA House

When addressing homelessness, governments should not expand their criteria for the involuntary civil commitment of people with mental disabilities, the ABA House of Delegates urged on Tuesday.

Aug 6, 2024 1:24 PM CDT

Supreme Court upholds ban on sleeping in public, says law does not punish status of homelessness

A ban on sleeping or camping on public property in the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, is not cruel and unusual punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday in a case brought by homeless plaintiffs.

Jun 28, 2024 9:56 AM CDT

Family members struggle to help University of Chicago law grad who became homeless

Many states are trying to figure out how to help people like 44-year-old lawyer Rob Dart, who is living on the streets of Los Angeles after rejecting his medication for psychosis.

May 6, 2024 11:32 AM CDT

Supreme Court divided over homeless ban and rights of the unhoused

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 flexibility to deal with the growing number of unhoused individuals nationwide.

Apr 22, 2024 2:35 PM CDT

Supreme Court will consider whether criminalizing homelessness violates Eighth Amendment

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.”

Apr 18, 2024 1:00 PM CDT

Netflix’s ‘The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker’ smashes the circumstantial evidence argument

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.

Apr 18, 2024 10:08 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Will SCOTUS consider it cruel and unusual punishment to prosecute homeless people for sleeping in public?

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.

Apr 15, 2024 9:00 AM CDT

New California law placing unhoused individuals with addictions in conservatorships faces questions

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.

Apr 1, 2024 12:40 AM CDT

NAACP-trained nonlawyers may provide limited advice to tenants facing eviction, top state court says

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.

Feb 14, 2024 9:47 AM CST

Interested in policy supporting homeless youths? ABA group provides guidance

“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.”

Jan 18, 2024 9:09 AM CST

Does banning camping by homeless people violate Eighth Amendment? Supreme Court agrees to decide

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.

Jan 16, 2024 10:09 AM CST

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