Advocates for affordable housing are still grappling with a U.S. Supreme Court decision they say could criminalize homelessness. Justices voted 6-3 in favor of Grants Pass, Ore., which passed an ordinance allowing fines for people sleeping in public, even if they have nowhere else to go.

Rachael Myers, executive director of the Washington Low-Income Housing Alliance, said the decision comes as many people in Washington state struggle to stay housed.

"The affordable housing crisis that we're experiencing right now is part of what makes this decision so painful. We're saying that it's okay to punish people for not having a place to live, when at the same time, the cost of housing is so astronomical," she said.

Critics of the decision say it opens the doors to cities implementing their own policies to punish people for sleeping outdoors. Supporters of Grants Pass say cities have had few options for responding to homelessness.

In ruling the anti-camping ban did not violate the Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the high court should not "dictate this nation's homelessness policy."

Myers noted Washingtonians needed to make more than $36 per hour at a full time job in 2023 to afford to rent the average two-bedroom apartment.

"It's especially a slap in the face when housing costs are so out of control, and when we know what to do about it. We know that providing people with housing and services is what is going to actually reduce homelessness and addressing the individuals' homelessness. Fines and tickets and arrests won't do that," she explained.

Myers added enforcing bans on sleeping outdoors could also divert resources.

"It costs a lot of money to incarcerate people, and we could be devoting any resources that go into arresting people or fining and ticketing people - we could be putting those resources into housing, into services, into shelter," she continued.

Myers said Washington state lawmakers could look at this issue and potentially take anti-camping bans off the table during their next legislative session.


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Connecticut advocates are distressed about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Grants Pass v. Gloria Johnson.

The ruling said public camping bans are not "cruel and unusual punishment" as defined by the Eighth Amendment. It means municipalities can fine homeless people for making encampments in public parks.

Sarah Fox, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, said criminalizing homelessness never works.

"People who are arrested are then returned to our community without resources," Fox pointed out. "So those that are engaged in the criminal justice system rarely come back to the community with the resources they need to thrive."

She added expenses such as court fees can stall a person's efforts to get housing. States such as California, Texas and Utah have bans similar to Grants Pass. Other states are either considering bans or saw legislation fail when it was introduced. The ruling comes as the last two annual point-in-time snapshots showed homelessness in Connecticut is rising after an 8-year decline.

Nationwide, homelessness has only grown since 2017. A 2022 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development point-in-time snapshot shows more than 582,000 people were homeless on a single 2022 night.

Fox argued a multipronged approach can reduce homelessness and developing affordable housing is a primary concern.

"We need to take a deep look at zoning," Fox contended. "What other models of housing are available in the near term, and how do we actually build deeply affordable units in the long term to meet the need?"

Recent estimates showed Connecticut is short 100,000 affordable housing units and current housing is too expensive even for higher-paying jobs in the state. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition finds Connecticut rental prices far exceed the pay of most if not all jobs the state has to offer.


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A group formed to fight for the rights of Bozeman's lower-income renters is pushing for mandatory legal assistance for people facing eviction. Opponents say it's unfair to landlords.

Bozeman Tenants United calls itself a multiracial, intergovernmental movement to win safe, dignified and affordable housing for working-class renters.

Benjamin Finegan, director of the group, said rising rents and less availability are proving to be "death by a thousand cuts" for renters, who he pointed out are forced to spend as much as half of their income on housing, if they can afford it at all. He called evictions "acts of violence," and claimed they are at the heart of Bozeman's housing crisis.

"Where an eviction, in a lot of ways, is a death sentence," Finegan argued. "It means that you are out on the street with nowhere to go, possibly with kids. It means that you have a red stamp on your rental record, and it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find new housing."

Finegan is working to get financial support from Bozeman to pay for legal representation for low-income households facing eviction. The state landlord's association is among the groups pushing back on the idea, saying rent prices are simply driven by market conditions and supply and demand.

Finegan noted Bozeman would join more than a dozen other towns and cities around the country that have instituted some form of legal assistance for people facing eviction. In Bozeman, Finegan said at least two-thirds of residents are low-income renters and as the number continues to grow, his group will push for the funding to pay for legal help.

"Fighting for approximately $670,000 per year in order to actually fund enough attorneys to give people full legal representation through eviction court filings, as well as illegal, dangerous living conditions," Finegan outlined.

Finegan added mandatory, city-funded legal representation for low-income people has sharply reduced the eviction rate in other places across the country that have adopted it, including a dramatic drop in evictions in Kansas City.


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By Marilyn Odendahl for The Indiana Citizen.
Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Indiana News Service reporting for the Indiana Citizen-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration.

A letter signed by nearly 500 Hoosier organizations and individuals was presented to Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday as part of a continued effort to persuade him to establish a statewide housing commission to tackle Indiana's "extreme housing crisis."

The 485 signees to the letter, which include housing providers, developers, community service organizations, faith-based groups and individual Hoosiers, are asking the governor to issue an executive order creating a Commission on Housing Safety, Stability and Affordability. They see a commission as improving coordination among government agencies and assorted stakeholders to help address the state's housing shortage and a shortfall in enforcing health and safety standards.

"Our state is in the midst of an extreme housing crisis," Amy Nelson, executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana and a signee to the letter, said in an email. "This is not new to housing consumers, whether renters or wannabe homeowners, who have been struggling to keep roofs over their heads or build generational wealth through homeownership. There is a dire lack of affordable housing options in both our home sales and rental markets. We need a Commission that can thoroughly address these issues impacting so many Hoosiers."

The idea for the commission was born from the failure to pass meaningful housing legislation during the 2024 session of the Indiana General Assembly and in previous legislative sessions. Despite 10 bills related to housing needs being introduced into the legislature in January and the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus focusing its agenda on housing concerns, the issue did not gain any traction.

The signees see a commission as overcoming the frustration in the Statehouse in two ways. First, they explained in the letter, a commission could find avenues through administrative and court rules to expand the housing supply without the need for legislation. Second, a commission could speak in a united voice to Indiana lawmakers and recommend new state statutes.

In the letter, the signees highlight Indiana's ongoing housing problems. The state currently has only 34 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely impoverished Hoosier households, the second-lowest rate in the Midwest, and 76% of those households spend more than half their income on housing expenses, the single-highest rate in the Midwest, according to data cited in the letter.

Moreover, housing instability is threatening many Hoosier families. The signees said more than 72,000 Hoosiers households had an eviction notice filed against them in the past year, and an estimated 86,000 households - which includes 98,000 children - remain at risk for eviction.

In March, Prosperity Indiana and the National Low Income Housing Coalition released their report - "The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes" - which detailed the depth of Indiana's housing problem. The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition, at that time, encouraged housing advocates to sign the letter asking for the commission.

"Contrary to the common claim that Indiana is an affordable place to live, the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition believes that the findings of this report confirmed what our members have witnessed on the ground throughout the state - that Indiana is failing to supply safe, healthy and affordable places for the most vulnerable Hoosiers to live," Andrew Bradley, policy director for Prosperity Indiana, said at the March news conference.

Those who signed the letter to the governor see a housing commission as functioning like the Indiana Commission on Improving the Status of Children, established in 2013, which has brought numerous stakeholders together to address the problem of abused and neglected youth. Similarly, the signees said, a housing commission could get administrative agencies, courts, local governments, legislators and advocates to work together to find solutions, rather than working in silos.

"Safe and stable housing is fundamental to the physical and mental health of all Hoosiers," the letter states, "to the education and development of children, to the employability of adults, and to a thriving state economy."


Marilyn Odendahl wrote this article for The Indiana Citizen.