ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The homelessness crisis is the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case that could have ramifications nationwide. 

The case is Grants Pass v. Johnson. It’s a case that could change how cities like Grants Pass, Portland, and even Albuquerque deals with homelessness.

Right now, a Grants Pass ordinance bans sleeping or camping on publicly-owned property, including sidewalks, streets, bridges, and city parks.

“They’ve started putting in some pretty extreme measures to make it literally impossible to be homeless in Grants Pass without getting increasing fines, and then eventually getting kicked out of parks, which then leads to jail time,” said Jeremiah Hayden with Street Roots. 

New Mexico has its own still undecided state Supreme Court case regarding homelessness. The case was set to go back to court in August, but that’s been delayed indefinitely.  

An attorney told KOB 4 it’s partly because we’re still waiting on the results of the Grants Pass case in the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The situation here is a little different. It’s over confiscating property at homeless camps, how it should be done and how much notice is necessary. 

Almost two years ago, there was a huge sweep at Coronado Park. Last November, a judge put a temporary pause on these sweeps, but the issue isn’t finalized. 

This case now in the U.S. Supreme Court is not considering search and seizure, so whatever happens there won’t completely determine what happens in the case here. 

“In New Mexico, however, our claims, our case, are brought under the New Mexico Constitution. And though whatever the outcome is in Grants Pass may be informative, it is not determinative of our claims,” said Laura Schauer Ives, a civil rights attorney. 

Schauer Ives, an attorney who works alongside the ACLU, which brought the case here in New Mexico.  

A big issue for the ACLU here and in other places has been the idea there aren’t enough shelter beds, so inevitably there will be people camping in parks and on sidewalks. 

Schauer Ives pointed out the Westside Emergency Shelter would not be able to hold every unhoused person if they all came in a single night. 

Mayor Tim Keller has refuted that notion before, including at a news conference in January ahead of a very cold night when he said everyone who wants shelter of some kind can get it. But the ACLU has always pushed back against that idea. 

“And so, to criminalize their existence when there is no other option, does seem cruel and unusual to me.  And I would hope that whatever the U.S. Supreme Court does, that the New Mexico Supreme Court would see our constitutional protections differently,” said Schauer Ives. 

On the other side of the debate, the attorney representing Grants Pass laid out the case why that city, and others, want this ban to take effect, saying:

“Cities are struggling to apply arbitrary, shifting standards in the field. Without the court’s intervention, cities will be forced to surrender their public spaces.”

But others say the cost of enforcement will outweigh the benefits. 

“You end up kicking the can down the road or spending a whole lot of money to put people in jail for being poor,” said Schauer Ives. 

There are potential regulations – that would include panhandling – set to come up in our special session in July. 

That effort didn’t go anywhere during the regular session, even with the governor’s support. It’s framed as a public safety issue, getting people off our medians to keep them out of danger. 

GATEWAY CENTER

A major resource for the homeless here in Albuquerque is the Gateway Center. But we are still a ways off from the center being fully open. Right now, there are 50 beds available only for women.

Besides shelter, the Gateway Center will also provide resources for the homeless, including a sobering center.

People will have a safe place to sober up, taking the burden off of emergency rooms and even jail.

“We are looking at 50 beds a day, 365 days a year. That’s more than 17,000 individuals that can be diverted from costly care at emergency centers and ERs. Not only that, it supports our first responders in having an alternative place to take individuals that is not a hospital,” said Gilbert Ramirez, director of Heath, Housing & Homelessness.

The federal government gave the city more than $4 million for this sobering center. City leaders are expected to make a decision on who will operate the center by mid-May.