In the coming days, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on a case out of a small town in Oregon that could shape the way cities handle the nation’s worsening homeless crisis.
South Florida is watching and waiting.
Here’s why: In October, a state law here will go into effect that bans overnight sleeping in public places. The new law also paves the way for residents to file lawsuits against local governments starting in January if they fail to enforce the ban.
The Supreme Court case centers on a homeless camping ban in Grants Pass, a small city in southwestern Oregon that has banned sleeping on public land with a blanket or pillow both night and day.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether cities can enforce tougher rules against people sleeping on public property, up to and including fines, arrests and jail time.
The ruling will most certainly have a ripple effect, experts say.
But will it change the law of the land in Florida?
Doubtful, says Bob Jarvis, a constitutional law professor at Nova Southeastern University.
But it’s hard to say until the ruling comes in, he said.
“We don’t know whether they’re going to write a broad opinion or a narrow opinion,” Jarvis said. “So it’s very hard to guess.”
Critics argue that anti-camping laws violate the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Lower courts have ruled that local governments cannot fine or jail a person for sleeping on public land if no shelter beds are available. Cities struggling to deal with the homeless crisis say the courts have tied their hands when it comes to keeping parks and other public spaces clean and safe for residents, tourists and children.
‘They gotta go somewhere’
Homeless advocate Sean Cononie hopes the court strikes down the Grants Pass camping ban.
“If the Supreme Court makes a decision like that, God help America,” he said. “We can’t start locking up people simply because they’re poor or homeless. They gotta go somewhere.”
Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Steve Glassman sees it differently.
“I’m hoping the court sides with Grants Pass,” Glassman said. “We’re at the point where we need as many tools as we can have to deal with the homeless issue. All hands on deck.”
It’s too soon to say how the ruling might affect Fort Lauderdale, Glassman said.
“I think we have to wait and see what the detail is,” he said. Fort Lauderdale will have to come up with a solid plan either way, he added.
“I’m optimistic that we are going to continue moving forward in a direction to combat this issue,” Glassman said. “We have to. For us, there’s no turning back. We have to protect quality of life for the residents and at the same time we have to get people the help they need.”
If the court sides with Grants Pass, cities will be empowered to ban sleeping on public property. But the court could write a more nuanced opinion that only applies to Grants Pass.
“It’s very easy to say no one has the right to sleep in public,” Jarvis said. “But on the other side, what would you like these people to do? The question is when is this country going to spend the money needed to house the unhoused?”
Jarvis says the Supreme Court is being asked to solve a problem that can’t be solved in a courtroom.
“I’m no fan of this Supreme Court,” Jarvis said. “But this is a very unfair thing that’s being done to the court. This (issue) requires government officials to man up, spend the money and address the homeless problem head on.”
In South Florida, the clock is ticking.
The new state law that takes effect in October gives local governments the option to set up homeless camps that can remain in place for up to one year. The camps would be required to have security, running water and working bathrooms.
Under the law, counties can designate an area in a specific city for the camp, but will need approval from that city’s governing body.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis worries that no camp will be designated by the time the law kicks in.
He suggested the county house the homeless at the county stockade on Powerline Road, just east of Chase Stadium where Inter Miami plays.
County commissioners have made it clear they do not want to use the stockade for a homeless camp.
Trantalis predicts the stockade will end up opening its doors to the homeless one way or another.
“The city is going to end up arresting homeless people,” he said. “They’re going to end up in the jail. The jail population will overwhelm the downtown jail. And they’ll be forced to use the stockade to house homeless people.”
Shipping containers?
If the Supreme Court sides with Grants Pass, it will provide the legal framework around the new state law, said Fort Lauderdale Commissioner John Herbst.
“Right now the viability of the new state law is somewhat in question,” Herbst said. “If the Supreme Court upholds Grants Pass, that will provide substantial support for the state’s new legislation.”
Herbst, for one, is hoping the court upholds the camping ban.
“I’ve been supportive of Gov. DeSantis’s new statute,” he said. “It’s going to help us resolve some of the issues we’ve had for decades.”
Herbst thinks shipping containers might be one way to provide affordable housing.
“You can buy a 40-foot-long container for $1,500,” he said. “Put a wall down the middle and you get two studio apartments. You can stack shipping containers seven stories high.”
Pallet homes, by contrast, can’t be stacked and can cost up to $50,000 a piece, Herbst said.
“A shipping container has to be a helluva lot better than a pallet home,” he said. “I’ve looked at them. They look like a shed.”
Herbst, a self-described realist, doesn’t think shipping containers will solve the problem. But they might help.
“You cannot solve homelessness,” he said. “You treat the problem. You manage it.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan