FACT FINDERS: How homelessness decision could impact southern Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - According to the most recent Point-in-Time count, around 2,200 people are homeless in Pima County.

They, and many others, will be impacted by an upcoming Supreme Court decision.

Oral arguments just finished in the case against Grants Pass, Oregon, a small city that wants to make it illegal for people to sleep on public land. The homeless people who sued call that cruel and unusual punishment.

13 Fact Finders found the implications of the court’s decision will stretch far beyond Oregon.

Some have said it could make our streets safer, while other claim it will criminalize being homeless.

13 News just reported the Tucson City Council is drafting an ordinance banning camping in washes to protect people and the environment. But leaders are biding time, cautiously awaiting this ruling.

Tucson’s “homeless encampment protocol” is initiated when a camp poses a public safety, criminal, or health threats. The city can respond with clean-up, outreach, or enforcement. Phoenix officers told us they have been instructed to ticket people camping, while the ACLU claims that’s unconstitutional.

A federal court ruled a couple of years ago that the city can’t enforce any camping bans when there aren’t enough shelter beds.

That’s exactly the situation in front of the Supreme Court. Homeless advocates said a ruling for the city could criminalize being homeless - and set back solutions.

“Trying to criminalize the fact that someone exists when they happen to exist in a park is concerning,” said Dia Nonaka, Director of Housing Programs for HOM in southern Arizona. “It’ll be much more difficult to assist people if we can’t find them - and if they’re pushed out of public locations and afraid of showing their face in public it will be much more difficult to find them, making the solutions much more difficult to achieve.”

HOM helps people get re-housed or find homes based on the idea that communities are safer and healthier when everyone has a home. Nonaka said she’d expect to have more people drop out of the process if visible homelessness became a crime.

It’s such a delicate issue, that neither the city of Tucson nor Pima County would talk about the case, with the county telling 13 Fact Finders in an email, “Depending on that ruling, the county will review state and local ordinances to determine what effect there might be.”

A Tucson spokesman wrote, “City Attorney Rankin will advise the Mayor and Council after having the opportunity to review whatever ruling is handed down. The City of Tucson continues to work with our partners to provide outreach to unhoused community members to connect them with services and opportunities for more permanent housing.”

A decision is expected in July.

Be sure to subscribe to the 13 News YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@13newskold

Copyright 2024 13 News. All rights reserved.