Posted on October 25, 2015 by Robert Rosenberger in The Atlantic The Atlantic, By Robert Rosenberger Early in August, the Department of Justice weighed in on a legal dispute over ordinances in the city of Boise, Idaho, that make it a crime to sleep in public. The plaintiffs, who first filed the lawsuit in 2009, were themselves homeless people convicted of disobeying these laws. In its statement, the DOJ argues that, in instances when shelter accommodations are unavailable, it is unconstitutional to criminalize sleeping in a public space. In the DOJ’s eyes, it’s a violation of the Eighth Amendment, because it’s cruel to punish someone for sleeping in public when no viable alternative exists.
