The court also found the civil penalties Grants Pass enacted were punitive and, as punitive fines, they were found to be in further violation of the Eighth Amendment as grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the offense. Boise decision, and the court there held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the enforcement of anti-camping and anti-sleeping ordinances against individuals who have no practical access to alternative shelter, regardless of whether the violations are designated as criminal or civil matters. City of Grants Pass built on the Martin v. If the civil penalties remained unpaid, additional collection fees would be applied, followed by collection efforts, all of which, the court found, made it more difficult for the individuals cited to ever secure housing, which might ultimately lead to further violations of the same prohibited conduct. Individuals found in violation of those laws could be excluded from the property and would be fined with mandatory civil penalty amounts. Grants Pass had enacted laws and policies prohibiting unpermitted camping on public property, including a ban on sleeping on streets and sidewalks. City of Grants Pass, a class of individuals asserted that the city unlawfully punished people based on their status of being homeless. District Court for the District of Oregon struck down one government’s response. Boise decision, governments began rethinking their policies, and many began updating their ordinances in ways that seemed to fit the narrow Ninth Circuit holding. Boise, the Ninth Circuit held that the Eighth Amendment precludes a local government’s enforcement of ordinances criminalizing sitting, sleeping, or lying outside in public places against homeless individuals who have no practical access to alternative shelter.Īfter an initial flurry of enforcement moratoria that followed the Martin v. The court sided with the plaintiffs and struck down the challenged code provisions. In the City of Boise, Idaho, homeless individuals challenged the City’s ordinances criminalizing, among other things, unauthorized sleeping in public spaces, and camping on streets, sidewalks, parks, and in public spaces. But in 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals raised a red flag that began to affect the enforcement of these ordinances everywhere. Local ordinances prohibiting camping on public property and sleeping on city streets and sidewalks were once commonplace.
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