The conservative majority on the Supreme Court ruled last week that cities can enforce bans on sleeping outside and essentially criminalize homelessness. City governments in western states now have the legal guidance they demanded from the courts, but the ruling does nothing to solve the dilemma posed by encampments that both frustrate housed residents and help vulnerable people to meet a basic human need.

Criminal laws have never been enforced equally in the United States, and plenty of legal questions remain despite the 6-3 ruling. Before being overturned by the Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that sleeping outside is involuntary when adequate shelter is not accessible, making fines or jails time an unconstitutional form of punishment. Disabled people are at disproportionate risk of becoming unhoused, and advocates say the ruling opens the door for the criminalization of disability, particularly where underfunded shelters lack proper facilities and enforce strict rules.

“Penalizing individuals, including many with mental health and other disabilities, for merely trying to live is not only cruel but also counterproductive,” said Marlene Sallo, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, in a statement. “Cities are now further emboldened to ignore effective housing-based solutions, opting instead to punish those with no alternative but to sleep on the streets.”

Expect legal fights to continue, but the facts on the ground have not changed. The nation faces a severe affordable housing crisis, and more people become homeless every day. The number of people becoming homeless reached record heights in 2023. Roughly half the country reports living paycheck to paycheck, leaving millions of families one crisis away from falling behind on rent. Large tent encampments are a familiar sight across the country, including wealthy West Coast cities where housing costs have soared.

Experts and frontline advocates say it’s much more difficult and expensive to help unhoused people back into a home than it is to prevent homelessness in the first place. Research shows that criminalization only........

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