City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson: The Intersection of Health, Homelessness, and Eighth Amendment Protections Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment

In City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, the Supreme Court upheld municipal ordinances prohibiting sleeping and camping in public, concluding that such laws do not violate the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause.This Article contends that the Court misapplied Robinson v. California and Powell v.Texas by treating the prohibited conduct as voluntary and separable from the status of being unhoused.By rejecting the Ninth Circuit's reasoning in Martin v. Boise, the Court endorsed enforcement policies that impose disproportionate burdens on the unhoused, while declining to meaningfully assess shelter availability or the involuntary nature of the regulated conduct.This Article further analyzes Grants Pass through a public health lens, demonstrating that homelessness frequently results from health conditions beyond individual control, and that unsheltered homelessness is associated with severe health consequences.By ignoring these realities, the Court significantly undermines the Eighth Amendment's protection for society's most vulnerable individuals.* Jordan Hartung is a 2026 graduate of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.I am grateful to the members of the Journal of Health Care Law & Policy for their careful