Strategies for evicting the homeless

If you’ve gotten no shelter and are arrested for sleeping outside, are you being punished for something you probably did – or for being homeless?

On June 28, 2024 The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the town of Grants Pass, Oregon, can ban camping even when there are not any available shelters in the world. Critics have argued that this policy is a type of “cruel and unusual punishment” and violates the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution to the U.S. Constitution. A lower court agreed, saying it was unconstitutional to arrest people for a standard and essential human behavior – sleeping – after they have nowhere else to go.

But Friday's ruling overturned that ruling. Such laws should not considered cruel, the court found, because they should not intended to inflict “terror, pain or shame.” Nor are they unusual. And they criminalize an act, the bulk said, not the status of homelessness.

Advocates for homeless peopleHowever, argue these species of anti-camping laws effectively make homelessness a criminal offense – and feared that a Supreme Court decision to overturn the ruling could reinforce cities’ efforts to Treating homeless people like criminals.

As a philosophy professor who researches homelessnessI believe it is crucial to grasp camping bans as a part of a broader effort to displace homeless people. Cities are doing lots to assist the homeless by doing every thing from from emergency shelters to food distributionHowever, cities also use various tactics to push homeless people out of the general public eye.

Perhaps most revealing is “Hostile architecture”, a spotlight of my research. This term is usually used to seek advice from public spaces which can be designed in a way that discriminates against certain vulnerable populations. The most typical examples are objects that create a physical barrier to on a regular basis activities for people without homes.

Hostile design

A typical example is spikes attached to ledges to discourage people from leaning or sitting on them. However, because spikes are sometimes quite conspicuous and their purpose is clear, they’re occasionally Cause controversy.

Another common but less eye-catching type of hostile architecture are benches that redesigned to make them harder or unimaginable to make use of as a spot to sleep. This is achieved through quite a lot of design concepts that prevent people from lying down, from bucket seats or seat dividers to armrests.

There are many other hostile physical obstacles. Garbage cans are sometimes fitted with hoods or outer containers with built-in locks to stop garbage thieves from picking up the rubbish.

Other designs change the landscape itself. Bollards or Boulders may be brought in To Divide potential campsites. Fences may be used to shut off protected areas reminiscent of motorway underpasses.

Enemy design isn't at all times about objects; sometimes actions are involved too.

Companies and churches are often accused of Spray water to potential sleeping places, partly via automatic Sprinkler systems. Noise pollution may be one other strategy loud music or annoying noises to clear potential loitering areas. This was the case in a park in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the sweet children's song “Baby Shark” was played along with other children's songs every evening.

Legal scholar Sarah Schindler argues that this sort of hostile design needs to be recognized as a type of regulation. As she puts it“Regulation through architecture is as effective as law, but it is less explicit, less identifiable, and less familiar to courts, legislators, and the public.”

Like the law, hostile architecture can regulate people's behavior. But unlike the law, cases of hostile architecture should not subject to official control and infrequently go unnoticed.

What is there – and what is just not

When you study hostile architecture, you see examples of it all over the place. But perhaps more importantly, you furthermore may notice the absence of certain items and services in public spaces.

Instead of adding armrests to a bench, Seat may be easily removed. Trees may be removed to stop loitering within the shade. Whole urban areas are no public toiletsThe options in private establishments are reserved just for paying customers. Cara Chellew, public space researcher describes this conspicuous lack of expectations as “Ghost amenities.”

However, hostile architecture is just the tip of the iceberg. Just beneath the surface are a large number of laws that focus on specific behaviors: Storage of non-public Article in public spaceLoitering, begging and vagrancy. There are laws against sitting or lying in public – so-called sit/lie laws. Anti-camping laws often apply not only to tents, but to using any sort of covering, reminiscent of a blanket.

Even give food for homeless people is prohibited In some citiesif the person or organization doesn’t have authorization.

The National Homelessness Law Center has Increase in this sort of laws throughout the United States. In a review In a study of 187 cities from 2006 to 2019, the middle found a 78% increase in sitting/lying laws and a 103% increase in vagrancy, loitering and loitering laws. Camping bans also increased by 92%.

Informal measures also can function a de facto ban on homelessness, for instance when Police put pressure on homeless people To keep going.

Many shelters, in the event that they exist, should not open through the day, so homeless people haven’t any selection but to loaf around or keep going in the midst of the day.

Sometimes the accommodations themselves present obstacles that prevent people from using their services, reminiscent of Patterns of discrimination against LGBTQ+ guests or policies that prohibit pets.

Missions on the SCOTUS

Taken individually, a lot of these laws or objects could appear harmless, or no less than not a giant deal. How much should we care a few bench with armrests or a park with rules that prohibit sleeping?

But taken together, these items can result in homeless people being excluded from public spaces altogether. None of them literally makes homelessness a criminal offense – but within the eyes of critics, these laws and design patterns have the identical effect.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one among three individuals who dissented from the bulk decision, Grants Pass vs. Johnsonrecommend an analogous idea. The city's camping ban punishes people for being homeless, she argued, and presents “the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: either stay awake or be arrested.”

This is an updated version of an article originally published on June 13, 2024.