The Department of Justice filed a statement of interest on Thursday, August 6, in federal district court arguing that ordinances that criminalize sleeping in public, when there is insufficient shelter space available, violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The statement was filed in response to the case Bell v. City of Boise et al., which homeless plaintiffs brought against the city of Boise after they were convicted under city ordinances that made sleeping or camping in public illegal.
“Sleeping is a life-sustaining activity—i.e., it must occur at some time in some place,” the Justice Department said in the statement. “If a person literally has nowhere else to go, then enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance against that person criminalizes her for being homeless.”
The court has not yet reached a decision in this case. While the Justice Department statement has no independent legal authority, the argument outlined in its statement of interest could influence the court’s decision.
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