Oregon City Urges Supreme Court to Overturn Ban on Public Camping

The Eighth Amendment is about cruel and unusual punishment, not about homelessness policies, the city argues ahead of an April 22 hearing.

A homeless man outside the Harbor View Memorial Park encampment in Portland, Maine, on Dec. 16, 2023. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

An Oregon city is urging the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court ruling that prevents it from prosecuting homeless people for sleeping outside.

Oral arguments in the case, City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, will be heard on April 22. Grants Pass, with a population of 39,000, is located in southwest Oregon on the California border. Activist Gloria Johnson is the lead respondent.