Supervisors to discuss court ruling on homelessness

A June 28 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, in which justices on both sides of the decision acknowledged the complexity of the issue, may have ramifications for Carson City government and local nonprofits that work with the city’s homeless population.

An agenda item on the topic is scheduled for the Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday, which starts at 8:30 a.m. in the community center.

“Many cities across the American West face a homelessness crisis. The causes are varied and complex, the appropriate public policy responses perhaps no less so,” reads the June 28 majority opinion delivered by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

The decision from the high court reversed an earlier ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and found that in the case of Grants Pass, Oregon, local penalties for people camping on public property do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The vote at the high court was 6-3 with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.

“Grants Pass overruled a 2019 Ninth Circuit decision, Martin vs. City of Boise, which held that an ordinance prohibiting the involuntarily homeless from sleeping on public property violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments,” said Carson City District Attorney Jason Woodbury. “In general, this ruling required law enforcement to determine that free shelter was available to a homeless person and that it was being refused before arresting or citing that person for any offense relating to his or her homeless status. Grants Pass concluded those determinations are not required by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.”

Thursday’s agenda item will explore the Grants Pass decision “and the legal impact to existing Carson City ordinances which were implicated by the Martin vs. City of Boise decision,” according to Woodbury.

“The board may provide some additional direction concerning ordinance amendments,” he said.

The SCOTUS opinion can be viewed online:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf

The ‘crisis’

“According to the federal government, homelessness in this country has reached its highest levels since the government began reporting data on the subject in 2007,” reads the SCOTUS majority opinion.

The opinion mentioned Nevada and several other western states.

“And each of the five States with the highest rates of unsheltered homelessness in the country – California, Oregon, Hawaii, Arizona and Nevada – lies in the American West,” the opinion said. “Those experiencing homelessness may be as diverse as the nation itself – they are young and old and belong to all races and creeds. People become homeless for a variety of reasons, too, many beyond their control.”

Based on an annual point-in-time count, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated 653,104 people experienced homelessness in 2023, a 12.1 percent increase from 2022. That total includes those in emergency sheltering or transitional housing as well as 256,610 unsheltered individuals.

HUD estimated 8,666 people experienced homelessness in Nevada in 2023 including 4,555 unsheltered individuals.

In Carson City, the homeless population fluctuates. Since the implementation of the Carson City Housing Plan in 2023, which included ARPA funding allocations to local nonprofits, Carson has seen a 40 to 50 percent drop in homelessness as measured by the point-in-time count conducted in January, according to figures provided to the Appeal.

Carson City Health and Human Services Director Nicki Aaker said there were 39 unsheltered individuals this year from the point-in-time count compared to 68 in the same snapshot the year before. For those in emergency shelters or transitional housing (considered sheltered but still homeless), the count was 31 this year versus 62 last year.

Policy changes?

“The item is on the agenda for discussion and to obtain any direction from the board regarding our municipal codes,” Deputy District Attorney Garrit Pruyt said. “Our office will be providing a summation of the Grants Pass court opinion and its effect on our current municipal codes. We will discuss CCMC 8.04.010, 8.10.100, 10.24.080, and 13.02.190. Additionally, we will also cover some of the municipal codes evaluated by the Supreme Court in Grants Pass.”

The aforementioned ordinances address disorderly conduct, obstruction of a public passage, overnight parking, and camping in city parks.

City code can be accessed online: https://library.municode.com/nv/carson_city/codes/code_of_ordinances.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said the SCOTUS ruling doesn’t change a lot for the way CCSO interacts with the homeless. Specialized MOST units are used for people deemed in crisis (peace officer paired with a social worker), and CCSO works with local organizations to get homeless people shelter and help.

“It’s not our intent to run out there and arrest everybody who is sleeping,” Furlong told the Appeal.

The sheriff maintained the majority of calls regarding homeless individuals are for unwanted persons or trespassing, and the SCOTUS ruling will give officers more latitude when a person needs to be moved or arrested.

Even so, Furlong said the challenge of people sleeping in public spaces remains, and that moving someone or arresting them is “just transferring the problem somewhere else.”

Jodi Miller, center manager for Night Off The Streets, worried criminalizing homelessness “only causes it to be further stigmatized.”

“What does writing a ticket do to help the individual? It doesn't help the person address any of their needs that caused them to be unsheltered in the first place,” she said.

NOTS, a nonprofit, was founded in 2017 a year after four people froze to death on Carson City streets, according to the organization’s website. Local churches in the program rotate to offer nighttime space for unsheltered individuals November through March.

Miller provided some figures about NOTS’ last season:

“Average nightly count of people utilizing the warming center was 32. We saw 261 individuals come through the warming center and provided 4,916 beds. During this time, we provided 60 referrals, resulting in 12 people finding employment and eight people finding housing. We are still looking for a permanent year-round location to be able to offer these much-needed services all year long. Homelessness is not just a winter issue. We are always open to suggestion of places to look into for a permanent place to be.”

Miller said the center — a low barrier center meaning people don’t have to be sober — saves the city money. She hoped the city would utilize the nonprofit instead of taking any punitive action.

“When NOTS warming center is open during the winter, the sheriff's have the option to drop someone off at our center instead of taking them to jail for the night,” she said. “This has saved the city, last year alone, $75,000 in booking costs. I would hope that instead of writing a ticket that may lead to more costs for the city when the person doesn't show up for court or is unable to pay the ticket, that they would instead drop them off at NOTS.”

More about NOTS: https://www.notscarson.org/.

The DA Office’s presentation on SCOTUS ruling is available online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2784488/LEGAL_Update_Grants_Pass.pdf.