Arresting Homeless Individuals for Sleeping, Sitting, or Lying on Public Property When Other Shelter Is Not Available Violates the Constitution

Jones v. Los Angeles, 444 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2006)

Cities have long struggled with how to deal with their homeless populations, particularly in light of reports that a high percentage of them are experiencing a mental illness. In what has been described as the first case involving the rights of homeless people in public spaces to reach the federal appellate level, the Ninth Circuit, in a two-to-one opinion, struck down a thirty-seven-year-old Los Angeles ordinance used to clear homeless people off the streets...

Found in DMHL Volume 25 Issue 2