PALMS UNHOUSED MUTUAL AID
5. Grants Pass
In 2024 the Supreme Court ruled that in the case of Grants Pass V Johnson1, it was not cruel and unusual punishment to allow cities to enforce laws that penalize homeless individuals for sleeping in public spaces, even when no shelter is available. Grants Pass V Johnson was originally filed by unhoused constituents in Grants Pass, Oregon in 2018. At that time the courts determined that it would be cruel and unusual to criminalize people (tickets, arrests, disposal of belongings) for sleeping outside when safe alternatives were not offered. Since the 2024 ruling, many cities across the U.S. have passed camping bans, resumed aggressive sweeps and, imposed other punitive measures against their unhoused constituents.2
From Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), “Where Does the Grants Pass Law Come From? Thousands of laws like the one in Grants Pass exist in cities across the US. Today’s laws have evolved from historical laws banishing particular people from public spaces. For decades, Grants Pass was a “Sundown Town,” a town that prohibited the presence of non-white people after dark. In fact, Grants Pass leaders explicitly targeted the act of sleeping while terrorizing Black, Brown, and Indigenous people in editorials like this one:”3
PUMA’S CONTEXT
It’s essential to analyze Grants Pass’ history and how it connects with the ongoing powers in West LA. Black people are overrepresented in the unhoused population and underrepresented in LA. This is especially important to consider in West LA which is less than 3% Black, which is less than half of the city of LA’s demographic. Grants Pass gives these cities the right to displace unhoused people even if they can not house them in their city district or unincorporated area.After the ruling, West LA Council Member Traci Park’s stated “If we allow people to camp wherever they want, for as long as they want, regardless of whether they’ve been offered services or a place to go, we are likely to see other cities, other regions, and other states pushing their homeless problems right into LA.”4 The myth of unhoused people moving to LA has been disproven. Park’s district is majority White.
West LA has a legacy of displacing Black families through deed exclusion, white supremacy terrorism, and gentrification. Working-class Black families fled the Jim Crow South to neighborhoods like Santa Monica and Culver City. Santa Monica beaches were filled with Black families often racistly referred to as “Inkwell.” Even the segregated Inkwell was challenged by nearby white homeowners and businessmen. In 1922 the Santa Monica Bay Protective League attempted to purge African Americans from the city’s shoreline5. The Klan’s Culver City presence continued through the 1940s, including within the city’s police force, and a cross burning occurred on a Black family’s lawn as recently as 1976. In 1994 the Culver City police hired Tim Wind. He was considered “one of the most unemployable cops in the country” because he had been seen by millions on videotape kicking and beating Rodney King67.
Any justification of displacement under Grants Pass is a continuation of efforts to keep cities racially homogenous.
Learn more here:
Supreme Court gives cities in California and beyond more power to crack down on homeless camps
Johnson v. Grants Pass: The Supreme Court case that made it a crime to sleep outside.
Housing Rights Watch Report on the Grants Pass Ruling
1913 Newpaper Ad
“Lots and presents restricted to Caucasian race”
Photo courtesy Rick Blocker