Portland's 'New' Public Sleeping Ban: Doing the Same Thing and Expecting Different Results

To get a physical copy of the issue released each Wednesday, locate your nearest vendor here or read more online at streetroots.org. 

Related Episodes: 

• 6/7/2023: Mayor Wheeler's Proposed Daytime Camping Ban Fines & Jails Homeless Portlanders + In Depth Reporting (Editor-in-Chief K. Rambo's reporting on the original passing of Portland's daytime camping ban--which is very similar to the Grants Pass ordinance--including the constitutional and legal questions raised by it)

• 7/12/2023: Ban Without a Plan: Unclear What's Next for PDX Daytime Camping Ban (Jeremiah's reporting on the lack of planning behind the Portland daytime camping ban, looking to Grants Pass case and ongoing litigation as a blueprint)

• 11/8/2023: Who Knows What's Next? Preparing for Wheeler's Nov 13 Daytime Camping Ban Enforcement Start (Unpacking the supposed start--that never materialized--of the 2023 ban's enforcement) 

• 11/15/2023: Sleeping Ban Enforcement Halted (Multnomah County Circuit Judge halts the start of enforcement of the 2023 ban)

• 1/17/2024: U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Homelessness Case (Jeremiah Hayden's initial reporting on the background of the Grants Pass case, what to expect, and how it relates to other similar ordinances)

• 5/8/2024: U.S. Supreme Court Hears Grants Pass v. Johnson (Debriefing oral arguments heard in April, and what the Supreme Court could decide)

Further Information:

• Text & Details of the 2024 Ordinance [via City of Portland, 5/8/24]

• Oregon Law Center sues City of Portland over 2023 Ban

• ORS 195.530  (2021) [OR statewide legislation requiring all local ordinances be 'objectively reasonable' with respect to people experiencing homelessness]

• 9th Circuit Federal Court Ruling in Martin v. Boise (2018) [Case establishes that sleeping outside cannot be punished if there is not otherwise sufficient shelter space]

• Supreme Court Ruling in Robinson v. California (1962) [Case establishes that an 'involuntary status' cannot be punished, using the framework of punishing someone for being alcoholic]