758 - Homelessness and SCOTUS: What Happens When People Experiencing Homelessness Are Forced To Move?
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2024
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Johnson v. Grants Pass, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, raises the question of whether homelessness can be criminalized. Ashley Meehan, a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the public health dimensions of this issue. They discuss her research looking into what happens to people after encampment sweeps and what policies would benefit not only people experiencing homelessness but their communities and cities as well. Listen to our previous episode on this issue.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, |
| 0:05.9 | where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges. |
| 0:16.3 | If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jhhhu.edu. |
| 0:23.8 | That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:31.9 | This is Lindsay Smith-Roggers. Today, a discussion about criminalizing homelessness with Ashley Mehan. |
| 0:38.4 | She's a Johns Hopkins doctoral student who studies what happens when people who are experiencing homelessness are forced to move. |
| 0:45.4 | She speaks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what public health has to say about a key case on homelessness still pending before the Supreme Court. |
| 0:54.9 | Let's listen. |
| 0:57.4 | Ashley Mian, it is great to see you on Public Health on call. |
| 1:00.8 | I know you as a graduate student here at the school, |
| 1:03.2 | but also as an expert in health and homelessness. |
| 1:07.3 | And so I really appreciate your spending a little time with me and our listeners talking about this recent Supreme Court case. |
| 1:16.7 | Thanks for having me. |
| 1:18.2 | So can you refresh everyone's memory about what is its stake in this particular case called Grant's Pass, I believe? |
| 1:26.9 | Yeah. So this case, Johnson versus Grant's Pass, I believe. Yeah, so this case Johnson versus Grant's Pass |
| 1:29.5 | is really asking the question, is it considered cruel and unusual punishment to fine or |
| 1:35.5 | criminalize people who are sleeping outside? So really thinking about the criminalization of homelessness. |
| 1:41.7 | This is a community where people have been living outside and the town is trying |
| 1:46.7 | to just say it's illegal. Yep. Now, the impact of a decision would be broader than this one |
| 1:55.7 | small town in Oregon. Right. So this decision would have an impact for all states and communities across the country. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the city of grants passed, then it would open the door for other communities to also criminalize homelessness further. |
| 2:12.2 | Now, your interest in this case comes from the health perspective. What are the big picture health issues |
| 2:20.1 | around criminalizing homelessness? |
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