An upcoming Supreme Court case has divided Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and progressives.

Nearly 90 amicus briefs have been filed in Gloria Johnson v. Grants Pass, a case that will come before the Supreme Court on April 22. Nearly 40 of the briefs, including one from Newsom, have been filed in support of an Oregon city, while just over 40 have been filed in support of Johnson, a homeless woman.

The case from Oregon centers on whether homeless people have the right to sleep outside. Grants Pass—the small city of roughly 40,000 people—was sued by the homeless who argued that the city unlawfully punished them for sleeping on the streets when no other shelter is available and unlawfully banned the use of sleeping bags, blankets, pillows and even cardboard boxes in public spaces.

In September 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the local ordinances amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment” and in violation of the Constitution. The ruling has upset a number of elected officials on the West Coast, including Newsom, who have lobbied the Supreme Court to reconsider the decision. Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington are all under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit.

Johnson v. Grants Pass is expected to have significant impacts on major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, which have been plagued by the nation’s homelessness crisis. More than 600,000 people experience homelessness on a given night in America, and nearly half sleep outside, according to the National Homelessness Law Center.

The case has become divisive among left-leaning circles, with some, like Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, arguing that these rulings prevent elected officials from addressing matters of public safety, while others, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, arguing that punishing homeless people won’t solve the lack of affordable housing.

In 2019, the Supreme Court declined to take up Martin v. Boise, a similar case that has made it extremely difficult for cities in those nine Western states from clearing the encampments that have long existed in West Coast cities. Critics of the Grants Pass ruling argue that the Martin decision has paved the way for lower courts to broadly interpret the decision from Idaho “in troubling and uncertain ways.”

“The Ninth Circuit and respondents have tried to downplay the ways in which the ruling ties local leaders’ hands, but their arguments only confirm the decision’s ambiguity and unworkability,” an amicus brief filed by Newsom in September reads. “Respondents insist that the ruling below does not prohibit clearing encampments, yet multiple district courts have held that it does exactly that.”

But among those who have filed briefs asking the Supreme Court to uphold the Ninth Circuit ruling are the Democratic Party‘s most progressive members. In an amicus brief filed Wednesday, a group of 19 members of Congress told the high court “punishing human beings for existing when they have nowhere safe to rest is not only unconstitutional, it is also the least effective and most costly response a city can choose.”

“Rather than criminalize homelessness and ban the unhoused from our communities, we should invest in the proven solutions to ending poverty and homelessness for good,” the brief led by Representative Cori Bush read.

Signatories included three-quarters of the so-called “Squad,” the most left-wing members of Congress, former Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Pramila Jayapal and both senators from Massachusetts.

Aside from Newsom and Breed, others favoring Grants Pass who have filed briefs asking the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling include:

• The states of Idaho, Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia
• National League of Cities
• National Association of Counties
• Cities of Albuquerque, Anchorage, Chino, Colorado Springs, Fillmore, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Glendora, Henderson, Hesperia, Honolulu Huntington Beach, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Murrieta, Newport Beach, Orange, Phoenix, Placentia, Portland, Providence, Roseville, Redondo Beach, Saint Paul, San Clemente, San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma and Westminster
• Representatives Clifford Bentz of Oregon, Kevin Kiley of California, Doug LaMalfa of California, Tom McClintock of California, Jay Obernolte of California and Darrell Issa of California
• Arizona Speaker of the House Ben Toma
• Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen
• Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho
• San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan
• Arizona Cities and Towns
• California State Association of Counties & the League of California Cities
• Central City Association of Los Angeles
• Association of California Cities – Orange County
• San Bernadino County
• League of Oregon Cities
• Special Districts Association of Oregon
• Association of Idaho Cities
• North Dakota League of Cities
• Washington State Association of Municipal Attorneys
• Brentwood Community Council
• Bay Area Council
• California State Sheriffs’ Association
• California Police Chiefs Association
• Washington State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs
• Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
• San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
• San Mateo County Economic Development Association
• Goldwater Institute
• Manhattan Institute
• Pacific Legal Foundation
• California Business Properties Association
• LA Alliance for Human Rights
• Historic Core Business Improvement District Property Owners Association
• Central City East Association
• Hollywood Media District Property Owners Association
• Hollywood Property Owners Alliance
• Venice Stakeholders Association
• TMG Partners
• Golden Gate Restaurant Association
• Building Owners and Managers Association San Francisco
• SynBioBeta
• Hotel Council of San Francisco
• Advance SF
• California Hotel and Lodging Association
• San Francisco Travel Association
• Neighbors for a Better San Francisco
• International Municipal Lawyers Association
• The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
• Grants Pass Gospel Rescue Mission
• Retail Litigation Center
• Retail Industry Leaders Association
• LONANG Institute
• Pacific Research Institute
• Cicero Institute
• Local Government Legal Center
• International Municipal Lawyers Association
• International Downtown Association
• California Business Roundtable
• Northern Kentucky University Professor Michael Mannheimer
• Stephen Eide and Judge Glock, senior fellows at the Manhattan Institute
• University of Florida Professor John Stinneford
• 10 private citizens with disabilities from Portland, Oregon, who previously sued the city for failing to maintain sidewalks free of tent encampments
• A group of homeowners, business owners and property owners of “The Zone,” Phoenix’s largest homeless encampment

Those who have field briefs asking the Supreme Court to affirm the ruling in favor of Johnson are:

• The states of Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Vermont
• Senators Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
• Representatives Cori Bush of Missouri, Jamaal Bowman of New York, André Carson of Indiana, Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Ro Khanna of California, Barbara Lee of California, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Linda Sanchez of California, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Nydia Velázquez of New York
• Former Prosecuting Attorney for King County, Seattle Daniel Satterberg
• Former Chief Medical Examiner of King County, Washington Richard Harruff
• Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America
• Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• California Chamber of Commerce
• Montana Chamber of Commerce
• Current & Former San Francisco Officials and Civic Organizations
• American Civil Liberties Union
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• American Psychiatric Association
• National Alliance on Mental Illness
• National Association for Rural Mental Health
• National Association of Social Workers
• Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
• Oregon Business & Industry
• South Mountain Friends Meeting
• The Women’s Housing, Equality and Enhancement League
• The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
• National Coalition for Men
• Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
• Western Regional Advocacy Project
• Local Progress Impact Lab
• Advocates for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence
• Advocates for Empowerment CA
• Los Angeles Community Action Network
• Los Angeles Catholic Worker
• Venice Justice Committee
• Inner City Law Center
• Fines and Fees Justice Center
• Rutherford Institute
• Street Democracy
• Constitutional Accountability Center
• StrongHearts
• Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice and Other Religious Organizations
• Law Enforcement Action Partnership
• National Police Accountability Project
• Emory Civil Rights Society
• Better Days Ahead Outreach
• Homeless Advocacy Project (“HAP”), a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Regional Housing Legal Services
• Morgantown RAMP
• Project Rainbow
• The Kanawha Valley Collective
• SOAR WV
• National Alliance to End Homelessness
• Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
• Corporation for Supportive Housing
• National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and 44 other veterans organizations
• Direct Services Providers
• Oregon Food Bank
• Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• National Low Income Housing Coalition
• Fund for Empowerment
• Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center
• Convicted People and Families Movement
• Shriver Center on Poverty Law
• National Consumer Law Center
• National Women’s Shelter Network, Inc.
• National Organization for Women Foundation
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• ‒Southern Legal Counsel
• Florida Justice Institute
• Florida Legal Services
• Community Justice Project
• Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County
• Florida Housing Umbrella Group
• Juvenile Law Center
• Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc.
• 223 experts on unhoused youth
• 57 social scientists with published research on homelessness
• A group of public health professionals and organizations
• Former executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Matthew Doherty
• President and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners Shaun Donovan
• Director of Mental Health Strategic Impact Initiative Fred Karnas
• Founder of Barbara Poppe and Associates Barbara Poppe
• Harvard Professors Laurence Tribe and Christopher Lewis
• University of Mississippi Professor William Berry III
• UCLA Professors Sharon Dolovich and Aaron Littman
• Loyola University Professor William Quigley
• University of Florida Professor Jeffrey Adler
• Berkley Professor Erwin Chemerinsky
• Northeastern Professor Martha Davis
• NYU Professor Helen Hershkoff
• CUNY Professor Stephen Loffredo
• University of Nevada Professor Nantiya Ruan
• UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal
• Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty Olivier De Schutter