Supreme Court’s homelessness ruling punishes the most vulnerable

On Friday, the United States Supreme Court found that it is constitutional to jail people simply because they are homeless. Their decision, in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, clears the way for cities across the country to treat unhoused people cruelly because they cannot afford a place to stay.

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison, whose office submitted briefing in the case in support of the Court’s decision, has embraced this opportunity to further punish the most vulnerable people in our community for their struggles with poverty, their mental illness and behavioral health conditions.

My office currently represents nearly all the people charged with...