The Resurgence of the Criminalization of Homelessness: One Year Post-Grants Pass v. Johnson

• In Event: The Diffusion and Implementation of Criminal Laws II

Abstract

In the months following the landmark Grants Pass v. Johnson U.S. Supreme Court decision, more than 150 cities across the country have passed new or strengthened existing ordinances that target people who are unhoused, for instance, by banning camping in public spaces. Utilizing a unique dataset of these ordinances, this study explores the extensiveness and the geographic and temporal dimensions of ordinances that target and criminalize homelessness. The analysis shows how both criminal and civil law have been leveraged in this new policy landscape to exclude people who are unhoused but do little to address the fundamental problem of affordable housing shortages. Special attention will be paid to the pronounced diffusion of these policies in suburban and rural jurisdictions, raising new questions about local criminal justice policymaking. Ultimately, these approaches serve to criminalize the manifestations of a housing crisis and do little to solve the underlying problem but provide a powerful symbolic logic of managing the issue. This study’s findings are important to our understanding of the evolving nature of the criminalization of homelessness as well as the housing crisis in this country as it bleeds into suburban and rural America.

Author

• Chloe Sudduth, Rutgers University