FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — On Friday, the Supreme Court voted in favor of cities being able to enforce bans on unhoused people sleeping outside in public. It overturned a California appeals court ruling that "found such laws amount to cruel and unusual punishment when shelter space is lacking."
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to pass the allowance, stating it doesn't violate the 8th Amendment. The case came out of a rural town in Oregon called Grants Pass, which has struggled for years with a rapidly increasing homeless population.
Now, local city and community leaders are speaking out about how it could impact things in Arkansas.
"I think more people than we realize, are at risk of homelessness in Northwest Arkansas and throughout the country," said Daniel King, a case manager at 7hills Homeless Center. "It's definitely not helping solve the problem. It's just perpetuating the cycle of chronic homelessness."
7hills Homeless Center sees around 370 people a month. The recent Point in Time count puts Arkansas with around 2,609 people who experienced homelessness at some point. King believes a decision for cities across the county to potentially follow isn't progress.
"I think it'll definitely make it more difficult to get people housed if they owe x amount of money to the city for sleeping outside," King said. "The other concern would be dispersing people and pushing them away from the resources that are available to them to where they have to relocate to another city."
Fayetteville City Councilmember D'Andre Jones believes criminalizing the unhoused is not the case in Fayetteville.
"It's about safety, it's about equity, it's about being a resource. And I think that here in Fayetteville, we are continuing to do that," Jones said. "Striking a balance and making sure that we are able to keep our citizens safe, and it's been complex, but we wanted to make sure that we are empathetic and we're also resourceful."
In the City of Fort Smith, camping is banned within city limits with the exception of designated parks. Fayetteville doesn't have any bans but in May 2023, the city council voted to make some changes to their camping regulations.
"Putting up camps and what's considered city property. We examined that, and more regulations around that, and that's very unfortunate, but again, we have to look at it's a measure of keeping everyone safe," Jones said. "It's not that we're running people off and that we're running people away. It's making sure that we are creating the best place for for them to be."
He believes cities should look at other avenues when it comes to the unhoused population.
"In government, in the Supreme Court, locally, statewide, we must be intentional. We must be deliberate, as it relates to finding resources to help our unhoused population. Because criminalization is not the answer," Jones explained.
The City of Fayetteville recently declared a housing crisis and had their first housing task force meeting this week. Jones has been heading the effort and he said after hearing the Supreme Court decision Friday, he's proud of the work being done in Fayetteville.
"It shows us that we are having a crisis and that it's bigger than Fayetteville, but it lets us know that in Fayetteville, that we are being what I consider proactive," Jones said. "We're looking at the unhoused population with more of a compassionate lens."
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