SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 3, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah ACLU has filed an Amicus brief, arguing that fining or arresting people experiencing homelessness who sleep in public constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment.
American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Utah and 16 other states submitted amicus curiae, a type of brief used when the filing organization or individual is not a party in the case, but asks to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an amicus brief will be considered is typically under the court’s discretion.
The case coming before Supreme Court judges on appeal is Grants Pass v. Johnson. It involves an Oregon city that passed ordinances barring people from sleeping outside in public using a pillow, blanket, or a cardboard sheet.
A statement issued by the Utah ACLU says that last year, “the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that criminally punishing unhoused people violates the Eighth Amendment ‘if there are no other public areas or appropriate shelters where those individuals can sleep.’
“The ACLU’s amicus brief argues that the original intent and meaning of the Eighth Amendment squarely protects unhoused people from the cruel and unusual punishment of being arrested or fined for simply existing,” the statement says.
ACLU staff attorney Scout Katovich, of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality, said in this country, we are entitled to protection.
“There is no punishment that fits the ‘crime’ of being forced to sleep outside,” Katovich said in a released statement. “Arresting and fining unhoused people for simply existing is a profound betrayal of the respect for human dignity that the Supreme Court has long recognized is at the core of the Eighth Amendment’s protections.”
Utah ACLU communications director Aaron Welcher agreed.
“Everyone in America is entitled to protections guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution,” Welcher said. “These rights remain even amidst experiences of homelessness. The practice of ensnaring unsheltered individuals in the criminal legal system through arrests, citations, and fines perpetuates the cycle of poverty while trampling upon their civil rights and liberties.
“We need a paradigm shift towards prioritizing housing over handcuffs, upholding the constitutional rights of all individuals, regardless of their housing status.”
To view or download the Utah ACLU Amicus brief, click here.
