A bit of background

Seeing tents only yards from the Stanford campus is no shock. Reading articles about alarming rates of homelessness in San Francisco have become almost routine. Watching homeless individuals wheel shopping carts filled with their belongings down the sidewalks of Menlo Park is downright commonplace. I can’t name one specific time in my life when I realized how pervasive the issue of homelessness truly is in my community. 

Rather, I think I gradually recognized that the elevated number of people — families, even — begging in front of huge department stores, cinemas, and fancy restaurants is not normal. In an area that prides itself on innovation, development, and business, it’s hard to see people getting left behind.

Back to Grants Pass

The Supreme Court case Grants Pass v. Johnson shocked me. As I read about how lawmakers were now able to clear homeless encampments without regard for where homeless individuals would go afterwards, I couldn’t help but think about the old men in tattered clothing sitting, exhausted, on benches in downtown Menlo Park, the rows of tents hiding beneath the bridges in San Francisco, the mothers and children huddled outside of my favorite restaurants. It’s hard for me to fathom them being ticketed, fined, or even imprisoned simply for existing in public places when they have nowhere else to go.

From prison to homelessness, and back again

Thus, as I read more about the connection between homelessness and prison, I feel almost sick knowing that this court case forces vulnerable individuals into the cycle between the two. It’s so clear to me that homelessness is never a choice, and sending homeless individuals to prison will not solve the issue. 

Instead, it will exacerbate the issue, unless two things happen: firstly, that encampments are cleared with respect for the dignity of its inhabitants and concern for where they will go next, and secondly, that legislation is passed to prevent prisons from releasing inmates without confirmed housing, reduce discrimination against ex-convicts when trying to rent or buy property, and improving shelter conditions. 

Closing notes

While these solutions barely scratch the surface of deeper issues, I believe they will help mitigate the growing prison-to-homelessness pipeline that has been urged along by Grants Pass v. Johnson. Further blogs will discuss in more depth the nature of the prison-to-homelessness pipeline, and steps lawmakers can take to combat it.