Criminalizing homelessness will cost lives. Sharing the National Harm Reduction Coalition statement on last week's decision on Johnson v. Grant Pass.
This heartbreaking ruling that allows the citing and jailing of unhoused people comes at a time when safe, affordable housing is extremely challenging to access, overdoses claim thousands of lives every day, and millions more are one step away from becoming homeless. This decision will lead to separation of families, further fuel high incarceration rates, and break up communities that look out for one another when our elected officials leave them behind—particularly people who are houseless, who reverse the most overdoses on the streets and in encampments."
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NHRC remains committed to protecting the basic rights of people who are unhoused.?Housing, not handcuffs, is the solution to solving homelessness, and housing is a human right?—?as are other basic needs, including being able to safely lay down to sleep at night. Instead of focusing on proven solutions to end homelessness, like housing and supportive services, our elected officials focus on criminalizing poverty and expanding the so-called “War on Drugs,” which are inextricably linked.
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Much like the criminalization of people who use drugs, with increased surveillance of our communities, large numbers of arrests for drug possession and sales, and the disproportionate impact of overdose deaths in communities of color, this decision will further force Black, Indigenous, and Latine/x folks into the criminal justice system, making it even harder for them to access needed services and support.?Racism drives both homelessness and health inequities, and the roots of racism in this court ruling run deep.?
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Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, a?flood of official briefs from business improvement districts, sheriffs’ associations, the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and California Governor Gavin Newsom urged the Court to take up the Grants Pass case and supported the city through amicus briefs. These connections cannot go overlooked.?NHRC was proud to join the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area amici curiae on behalf of?San Francisco local leaders and civic organizations, joining over 1,000 organizations that filed 40 amicus briefs across the country in support of the rights of unhoused people.
The Grants Pass case ruling, however devastating, must reignite our commitment to challenge all structural systems?that threaten our communities’ safety and health while also helping us connect the dots and collaborate with one another in larger strategic advocacy across our movements in close partnership with people with lived and living experience of homelessness.??? #housingisahumaright #housingnothandcuffs #supportdontpunish #onlyhousingsolveshomelessness
