Fun Fact from Grants Pass v. Johnson

Weeks after the headlines faded, I finally got time to read the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which denied the existence of a constitutional right to camp on public land. When an important case like that gets resolved, it’s worth reading the primary source, rather than just listening to talking heads, who themselves likely haven’t read it, echo back and forth what everyone is saying is in the document.

Doing so reveals some remarkable gems, like this one from the Amicus brief from the League of Oregon Cities, representing 241 Oregon cities. The League of Oregon Cities stated that, between April 2022 and January 2024, over 70 percent of their approximately 3,500 offers of shelter beds to homeless individuals were declined. That’s the first I’ve heard of such a fact. My, what a revealing fact.

Eric Shierman lives in Salem and is the author of We were winning when I was there.