In December 2024, Madeline Prokop (JD 2026), Stav Tsur (JD 2026), and David Randall (JD 2026), three of the students of the International Human Rights Center, submitted a petition against the United States to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on behalf of Persons Experiencing Houselessness (PEH) alleging violation of Articles II, XXVI, and XVI of the American Declaration of Human Rights.
In 2019, in Martin v. City of Boise, the U.S. Supreme Court had declared city ordinances that criminalize unavoidable human conduct (e.g. eating or sleeping) to be a violation of the 8th amendment. In June 2024, in Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Supreme Court overturned its previous decision. Within two months, hundreds of municipalities around the U.S. proposed or passed ordinances threatening PEH with fines or jail time. The criminalization of PEH for unavoidable and necessary physiological conduct not only violates human rights, but it is a costly method to perpetuate the cycle of houselessness. Ultimately, the criminalization pushes PEH further from realizing their right to adequate housing in violation of international human rights law.
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