March, 26 2010, 03:02pm EDT
All 50 States and the Nation's Capital Join the World in Turning Out for WWF's Earth Hour
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
announced today that Earth Hour will be officially observed in all 50
states, uniting the country in the single largest call to action on
climate change in history.
WASHINGTON
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
announced today that Earth Hour will be officially observed in all 50
states, uniting the country in the single largest call to action on
climate change in history.
Non-essential lighting in more than
3,500 cities in 125 countries around the world will be turned off
Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 pm local time. Of that total, 36 countries
will be participating for the first time, 58 nations' capital's,
including Washington, D.C., all of the G20 nations, and seven of the
most populated cities in the world are turning off their lights for
Earth Hour.
In the United States, governors from both sides of the
aisle, mayors, state legislators, government officials, celebrities,
business, religious and community leaders, university presidents,
teachers and individuals are joining together to demonstrate their
commitment to fighting climate change and creating solutions for the
future of the planet. Collectively, they will turn off the lights at
governors' residences and state capitol buildings, iconic landmarks,
businesses, schools and homes, for one hour, Earth Hour.
"Earth
Hour sends a clear message that Americans care about their country and
the planet. By turning the lights off on pollution and climate change,
we will make the switch to a cleaner, safer and more secure world," said
Earth Hour US Managing Director Leslie Aun.
The lights at the
governors' residences and/or state capitol buildings will go dark in 33
states; Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,
Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West
Virginia and Wisconsin.
More than 45 national and local
monuments and landmarks across the U.S. will be turning off their
lights during Earth Hour including:
- Mount Rushmore in South
Dakota - The Las Vegas Strip in Nevada
- Niagara Falls in
New York - National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
- Smithsonian
Castle in Washington D.C. - Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
- Space
Needle in Seattle - Empire State Building
- Chrysler
Building - Queen Mary Hotel in Los Angeles
- The Pylons at
L.A. International Airport - Santa Monica Pier
- St. Louis
Gateway Arch - The United Nations Building in New York
- Soldiers
and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis - Duluth Aerial Bridge in
Minnesota - Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall in Alaska
- Montezuma
Castle in Arizona - The Wrangler in Cheyenne, Wyoming
- Milwaukee
Public Market in Wisconsin - Chase Tower in Dallas
- The
National Aquarium in Baltimore - Sears/Willis Tower in Chicago
More
than 150 cities, towns and counties will dim the lights at buildings in
their municipalities including; Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Austin,
Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Honolulu,
Houston, Huntsville, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando,
Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sioux Falls, Spokane, St. Louis, and Winston-Salem.
In each of these cities individuals, businesses and organizations are
participating in activities to engage, enlighten and spread the Earth
Hour message.
Some examples of how Earth Hour is being celebrated
in select cities include:
New York City Estee Lauder
employees are asked to turn off lights and computers today, before the
start of the weekend. The Grand Hyatt's (near Grand Central) analog
clock will countdown to Earth Hour starting 24 hours in advance. The
Great White Way is also on board for the great blackout, with all
Broadway theatres participating by turning off roof and marquee lights
for Earth Hour.
Los Angeles Earth Hour dining will be
in full swing at restaurants in the area including Euphoria Loves Rawvolution,
Lago's and Ocean & Vine's.
Additionally the outside, decorative lighting will be turned off at
downtown LA's AEG Live including the Staples Center.
Chicago In
Chicago, where ComEd is a presenting sponsor, nearly 200 downtown
buildings will dim non-essential lighting for one hour, including Willis
Tower, Merchandise Mart and the Wrigley Building. The City of Chicago
will be turning off the exterior lights at City Hall, the Cultural
Center and the Chicago Police Department Headquarters. Additionally,
dozens of Chicagoland restaurants and hotels are serving dinners by
candlelight including: Cyrano's Bistrot, Bistro Bordeaux, Harry Caray's,
Osteria Via Stato, Red Kiva, Nacional 27, Duke's Alehouse, and Kitchen,
C-View Restaurant, Swissotel Chicago and the Conrad Chicago Hotel.
Baltimore The
University of Maryland has brought March Madness fever off the court,
joining as an official participating school for Earth Hour. The Inner
Harbor will be noticeably darker with the National Aquarium, USS
Constellation/Historic Ships in Baltimore, and Domino Sugar and Rusty
Scupper signs dimming their lights in observance. City Hall will also go
dark.
St. Louis Whole Foods Galleria will be turning
off the lights in the cafe for dinners by candlelight with a performance
by local musician Monica Case. The famous St. Louis Gateway Arch will
also go dark for Earth Hour.
Washington, DC A multitude
of hotels including the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Fairmont and Westin
Grand DC will host candlelight dinners with dining specials in
celebration of Earth Hour.
Phoenix A couple will hold
their wedding ceremony completely by candlelight and torches at the
Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort this Saturday evening in celebration
of Earth Hour.
Dallas Dallas is leading the charge for
climate awareness in the Lone Star State, with more than 30 buildings in
North Texas turning off their lights including the Bank of America
Building, Fountain Place, Chase Tower, Reunion Tower and Ferris Plaza.
Denver The
Mile High City's famous INVESCO Field is going dark for Earth Hour. The
Governor's mansion and state capitol building will also go dark in
observation of this global call for climate change.
San
Francisco The Ferry Building on Embarcadero will go dark and
plans to offer "pedal-powered" music during an Earth Hour celebration,
with energy powered by humans riding bikes. They will join the Golden
Gate and Bay Bridges, Coit Tower and City Hall in dimming for Earth
Hour.
Boston As Earth Hour takes over Bean Town,
buildings throughout the city of Boston, including City Hall, will turn
out in support of this year's event. The city's education community
also has jumped full-force behind Earth Hour with several local
universities, such as Tufts and Brandeis, going dark for one hour.
Las
Vegas Visitors to Las Vegas won't be able to keep quiet as they
watch the lights of the world famous Las Vegas Strip turn off for Earth
Hour. Visitors and residents alike will get a chance to see such iconic
landmarks as the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign and Luxor's
shining beam turn out for this extraordinary event.
More than 45 national
organizations have pledged their support for Earth Hour and are
encouraging their members and local chapters across the country to get
involved. The National Education Association, American Federation of
Teachers, NAACP, LULAC, Youth Service America, 4-H, National Park
Service's WebRangers, Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots, Earth Day
Network, National Honor Society, YMCA for the USA, Building Owners and
Managers Association International, Unitarian Universalist Association,
and the United Church of Christ join the diverse group of supporters for
2010.
Earth Hour will be celebrated on many well-known college
campuses.
- University of Virginia-
Non-essential lights will be turned off across campus during Earth Hour.
Local businesses are being encouraged to join with students and faculty
in turning out. - Michigan State University - Events are
taking place across campus to recognize Earth Hour including a steel
drum circle performance, poetry slam, relaxation lessons and a jazz
performance. - Universityof Phoenix - the online university
is encouraging Earth Hour participation across all campuses nationwide
and will be turning off the lights in Central Administration buildings
in Phoenix. - Universityof Florida - The lights around
Century Tower and lights on fountains and on outdoor art installations
will be turned off from Friday evening through Monday morning in
recognition of Earth Hour. - Wake Forest- Students created
an Earth
Hour video to encourage participation on campus and will host a
lights-out event on campus which will feature a light bulb exchange,
free pizza and environmental games. - GeorgeWashington
University - The University will host "blackout" and
"glow-in-the-dark" parties in residence halls and will feature a Battle
of the Bands in the dark.
Sports figures, actors and models
are supporting Earth Hour 2010. New
England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his wife
supermodel Gisele
Bundchen, as well as two-time NBA MVP and Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash have recorded public service
announcements (PSAs) to help raise awareness of the significance of
climate change action. Edward
Norton has signed on for the second year in a row to show his
support for Earth Hour with a new video encouraging people to join the
movement with him.
Facebook(r)
and Twitter continue to be the biggest drivers of awareness and action
about Earth Hour. Facebook will continue to help raise awareness for
Earth Hour with a lights out profile picture and status message on key
Pages including Facebook, Celebs, Sports, Education, Facebook for Good,
among others. In addition, Earth Hour videos and PSAs posted on
YouTube.com have been viewed more than 500,000 times.
During
the largest global call to action on climate change in history, the
U.S. will be joined by more than 3,500 cities, towns and villages in 125
countries including; Athens, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin,
Buenos Aires, Cairo, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul,
Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Nairobi,
Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Singapore, Toronto, Stockholm, Hiroshima
and Zimbabwe.
Countries participating for the
first time include; Nepal, Kosovo, Mongolia, Madagascar, Mauritius,
Czech Republic, Cambodia, Northern Mariana Islands, Tanzania, Oman,
Mozambique, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Faro Islands, Laos, Slovenia,
Lithuania, Bangladesh, Channel Islands, Cook Islands, Malta, Nigeria,
Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Paraguay, Bonaire, Morocco, Liechtenstein,
Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Macau.
The
Great Pyramids of Giza, one the world's greatest symbol of the power of
collective action, heads up a list of more than 1,200 landmarks around
the planet switching off their lights for Earth Hour, including:
- Italy's Trevi Fountain in Rome and Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Big
Ben, the London Eye and Houses of Parliament in London - Edinburgh
Castle in Scotland - India Gate and Red Fort in Delhi
- Victoria
Falls in Zimbabwe - Bosphorous Bridge in Istanbul
- Hohensalzburg
Castle in Salzburg - Independence Angel in Mexico City
- Eiffel
Tower in Paris - Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
- Hiroshima
Peace Memorial - London Eye, Table Mountain
- Christ the
Redeemer statue - Sydney Opera House
- Burj Khalifa - The
world's largest building
WWF hopes that this Saturday's
event is just one step in an ongoing conversation and continual effort
toward creating a cleaner, safer and more secure future.
WWF
officials stress the importance of safety during Earth Hour, asking that
all lighting related to public safety remain on.
World Wildlife Fund is the largest multinational conservation organization in the world, works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.
LATEST NEWS
Columbia Faculty Walk Out Over Student Suspensions, Arrests for Gaza Protests
While expressing gratitude for solidarity actions, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar—whose daughter was suspended—said that "this about the genocide in Gaza and the attention has to remain on that."
Apr 22, 2024
Over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by U.S.-backed Israeli troops, and Columbia University students have been suspended and arrested by New York Police Department officers in recent days for protesting the slaughter—which led to a walkout by the Ivy League institution's faculty on Monday.
The Guardian reported that "hundreds of members of the teaching cohort at Columbia walked out in solidarity with the students who were arrested" while "students put protest tents back up in the middle of campus on Monday after they were torn down last week when more than 100 arrests were made."
Yonah Lieberman, co-founder of IfNotNow, a Jewish-led U.S. group that organizes against Israel's apartheid, declared: "Solidarity with these faculty members. Shame on establishment politicians and agitators who are smearing the anti-war protest at Columbia as anything other than what it is: a courageous stand for freedom and peace."
Naureen Akhter, a founding member of the New York-based group Muslims for Progress, said: "Thank you to the professors who stood in solidarity with student protestors, who didn't give into instigators who are fanning flames of hate and division. Remember the calls are for transparency, divestment, and amnesty for students!"
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—a critic of Israel's war on Gaza whose own daughter, Isra Hirsi, was suspended from Columbia's Barnard College last week for "standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide," as the 21-year-old junior put it—also noted the faculty walkout and "nationwide Gaza solidarity movement."
"This is more than the students hoped for and I am glad to see this type of solidarity," said Omar. "But to be clear, this about the genocide in Gaza and the attention has to remain on that."
Summary of events from the last day not related to Columbia:\n\n- Israel has not provided evidence that UNRWA staff are part of Hamas\n- A mass grave, including women/children was discovered\n- Doctors did an emergency c-section, saving a baby after an airstrikes killed her mother— (@)
The walkout in New York City followed 54 Columbia Law School professors sending a letter to administrators that states, "While we as a faculty disagree about the relevant political issues and express no opinion on the merits of the protest, we are writing to urge respect for basic rule-of-law values that ought to govern our university."
"Procedural irregularity, a lack of transparency about the university's decision-making, and the extraordinary involvement of the NYPD all threaten the university's legitimacy within its own community and beyond its gates," they wrote. "We urge the university to conform student discipline to clear and well-established procedures that respect the rule of law."
In a statement early Monday, several hours before the walkout, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik—who last week enabled NYPD arrests of students at the encampment—announced in her first statement since the sweep that all classes would be virtual "to deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps."
"Faculty and staff who can work remotely should do so; essential personnel should report to work according to university policy. Our preference is that students who do not live on campus will not come to campus," Shafik said. "During the coming days, a working group of deans, university administrators, and faculty members will try to bring this crisis to a resolution."
The national group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) on Monday accused Columbia of creating "a climate of repression and harm for students peacefully protesting for an end to the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza" over the past six months.
"Columbia University has actively created a hostile environment for students who are Palestinian or who support Palestinian freedom. Additionally, the administration's actions have made the campus much less safe for Jewish students," JVP said.
According to JVP:
Instead of listening to the calls of Columbia and Barnard students to divest from the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government, the university has called in the NYPD to arrest students, suspended them, and even expelled them. At present 85 students, 15 of whom are Jewish, are suspended.
Yesterday's statement by the White House, like the administrators of Columbia University, dangerously and inaccurately presumes that all Jewish students support the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians. This assumption is actively harming Palestinian and Jewish students.
The administration has not only harassed Jewish students and failed to ensure their safety and well-being, it has also obstructed their religious observances during Shabbat and prevented them from accessing their Jewish community on the eve of Passover.
While President Joe Biden's Sunday statement was officially about Passover—a Jewish holiday that begins at sundown on Monday—and not the protests at Columbia and other campuses across the country, it was widely received as a response to the latter.
Biden said in part that "we must speak out against the alarming surge of antisemitism—in our schools, communities, and online. Silence is complicity. Even in recent days, we've seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous—and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country."
Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a Ph.D. student at the university, toldCNN that "Columbia students organizing in solidarity with Palestine—including Jewish students—have faced harassment, doxxing, and now arrest by the NYPD. These are the main threats to the safety of Jewish Columbia students."
"On the other hand, student protesters have led interfaith joint prayers for several days now, and Passover Seder will be held at the Gaza solidarity encampment tomorrow," he added. "Saying that student protesters are a threat to Jewish students is a dangerous smear."
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said in a lengthy statement that "we are student activists at Columbia calling for divestment from genocide. We are frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us. At universities across the nation, our movement is united in valuing every human life."
"As a diverse group united by love and justice, we demand our voices be heard against the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza," the statement continues. "We've been horrified each day, watching children crying over the bodies of their slain parents, families without food to eat, and doctors operating without anesthesia. Our university is complicit in this violence and this is why we protest."
The Columbia Spectator reported Monday that Columbia College passed a divestment referendum that "asked whether the university should divest financially from Israel, cancel the Tel Aviv Global Center, and end Columbia's dual degree program with Tel Aviv University," with respective votes of 76.55%, 68.36%, and 65.62%. However, a statement from a university spokesperson signaled the referendum would not lead to any shift in campus policies.
Beyond Columbia, there are ongoing demonstrations at institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, the University of Michigan, and Yale University, another Ivy League school, where at least 47 peaceful student protesters were arrested on Monday.
Those arrested were "charged with class A misdemeanors, which is the highest class of misdemeanors in Connecticut—the same degree applies to third-degree assault," according to the Yale Daily News. Citing a university spokesperson, the student newspaper added that they "will be referred for Yale disciplinary action—which could include reprimand, probation, or suspension."
Pushing back against some administrators' statements, journalist Thomas Birmingham, who was with the Yale protesters overnight, said on social media: "Here's some things I saw... 1. Repeated and loud calls to remain peaceful. 2. Students locking arms, teaching Arabic and Hebrew, and passing around pizza and water. 3. Lots of singing."
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Modi Slammed for 'Direct Attack on Muslims of India' in Campaign 'Hate Speech'
"Modi's rhetoric against Muslims is extremely divisive and dangerous," warned one critic. "It would only fuel more hate and violence against the already battered community."
Apr 22, 2024
Critics on Monday condemned far-right Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what one group called a "hateful and dangerous" campaign speech in which he claimed that Muslim "infiltrators" would steal Indians' wealth if the opposition wins parliamentary elections that began last week.
Speaking to supporters at a rally in the western state of Rajasthan on Sunday, Modi said that the manifesto of the opposition Indian National Congress (INC) party details how to calculate "the amount of gold that mothers and sisters have" so that it can be redistributed to Muslims.
"When they were in power, they said Muslims have first right over resources," the prime minister claimed out of context. "They will gather all your wealth and redistribute among those who have more children. They will distribute it among infiltrators. Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators? Would you accept this?"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rhetoric against Muslims is extremely divisive and dangerous. It would only fuel more hate and violence against the already battered community. pic.twitter.com/KT36FVpS6u
— Raqib Hameed Naik (@raqib_naik) April 21, 2024
Members of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—which does enjoy the support of a significant number of Indian Muslims—have often portrayed Muslims as outsiders. BJP officials have also pushed a baseless conspiracy narrative roughly analogous to U.S. white supremacists' "great replacement" theory, in this case positing that Muslim migrants and rapidly reproducing Indian Muslims will eventually outnumber Hindus—who make up around 80% of the country's 1.4 billion people.
Modi's remarks came a day after India's seven-step election of 543 members of the Lok Sabha, or lower legislative house, began. Modi is running for a third consecutive term. He's being challenged by INC President Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the upper legislative house. Results will be announced on June 4.
Kharge responded to Modi's remarks by blasting the "panic-filled" address as "not only a hate speech but also a well-thought-out ploy to divert attention" by the prime minister, the BJP, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)—a fascist-inspired political and paramilitary movement whose brand of Hindu supremacy heavily influenced the rise of the BJP.
"Lying for power, making baseless references to things, and making false accusations on opponents is the specialty of the training of RSS and BJP," Kharge said, adding that Indians "are no longer going to fall prey to this lie."
Indian journalist and
Washington Post opinion columnist Rana Ayyub said on social media that "this is not a dogwhistle, this is a targeted, direct, brazen hate speech against a community."
Thousands of Indians petitioned the country's Election Commission seeking punitive action against Modi.
"The prime minister, while campaigning... made a speech on April 21 in Rajasthan that has disturbed the sentiments of millions of Constitution-respecting citizens of India," one petition states. "The speech is dangerous and a direct attack on the Muslims of India."
Muslim groups around the world also slammed Modi's speech, which the U.S.-based Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) called "hateful and dangerous."
"It is unconscionable, but not surprising, that far-right Hindutva leader Narendra Modi would target Indian Muslims with a hateful and dangerous diatribe despite his role as the leader of a nation with such a diverse religious heritage," said CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad.
"We again call on the Biden administration to declare India a 'country of particular croncern' over its discriminatory and violent policies targeting Muslims and other religious minorities," Awad added. "Global Islamophobia is alive and well in India and must be confronted before it escalates to something even worse."
South Asia historian Audrey Truschke, a professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, accused Modi of "straight-up fascism."
"Modi had a history of encouraging mass violence against Muslims," Truschke added. "So we should all take his words seriously."
Modi was chief minister of the western state of Gujarat in February 2002 when a train full of Hindu pilgrims was set ablaze, killing 58 people. The cause of the disaster remains disputed, but Modi was quick to blame Muslims for the fire. In a three-day paroxysm of intercommunal bloodletting, Hindu mobs murdered at least hundreds—and perhaps thousands—of Muslim men, women, and children. Many women and girls were raped. More than 250 Hindus were also killed during what came to be called the Gujarat riots, during which an estimated 150,000 people were also forcibly displaced.
A team sent by the British government concluded that Modi was "directly responsible for a climate of impunity" that enabled the pogrom. However, a special investigation commissioned by the Indian Supreme Court cleared him of complicity in 2012. Modi's alleged role in the massacre led to a U.S. visa ban during the George W. Bush administration that was lifted during the tenure of former President Barack Obama after Modi became prime minister.
Deadly violence against religious minorities and others has increased during BJP rule. And while the U.S. State Department has perennially criticized the Indian government's human rights record, Modi was courted by both the Trump and Biden administrations. Last year, the White House literally rolled out the red carpet for Modi, who was lavishly feted by President Joe Biden and invited to speak before a rare joint session of Congress. Several progressive lawmakers boycotted the address.
Earlier this year, Progressive International's (PI) executive body used Modi's consecration of a highly controversial Hindu temple on the former site of a 16th-century Muslim mosque destroyed by a Hindu nationalist mob as an opportunity to issue a warning about the accelerating erosion of democracy in India.
"The Modi government has made a decisive move to overthrow India's secular constitution in the name of a new Hindu supremacist nation," PI's statement asserted. "As prime minister, Modi has pushed this Hindu nationalism as India's dominant political force: banning the hijab in schools, introducing 'anti-conversion' laws, abusing municipal forces to demolish Muslim households and shops in cities, and pushing for a 'uniform civil code' in law."
Anti-Muslim speech has also increased dramatically in India, according to a report published earlier this year by the U.S.-based India Hate Lab. The publication detailed 668 incidents in 2023—75% of which occurred in BJP-ruled states.
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Liberal Justices Grill Attorney in Supreme Court Case on Criminalizing Homelessness
"Where are they supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves not sleeping?" asked Justice Sonia Sotomayor of unhoused people who have been barred from sleeping outside in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Apr 22, 2024
As housing rights advocates and people who have been unhoused themselves rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to demand an end to the criminalization of homelessness, the court's three liberal justices demanded to know how the city of Grants Pass, Oregon can penalize residents who take part in an act necessary for human survival—sleeping—just because they are forced to do so outside.
After an attorney representing Grants Pass, Thomas Evangelis, described sleeping in public as a form of "conduct," Justice Elena Kagan disputed the claim and reminded Evangelis that he was presenting a legal argument in favor of policing "a biological necessity."
"Presumably you would not think that it's okay to criminalize breathing in public," said Kagan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. "And for a homeless person who has no place to go, sleeping in public is kind of like breathing in public."
Evangelis is representing the city in Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case stemming from a 2018 lawsuit filed by an unhoused woman, Debra Blake, who accused officials of "trying to run homeless people out of town."
"On any given day or night, hundreds of individuals in Grants Pass, Oregon, are forced to live outside due to the lack of emergency shelter and affordable housing in their community," the original lawsuit stated.
The city has passed ordinances banning people from sleeping or camping on publicly owned property, with violators subject to fines of hundreds of dollars.
A lower court ruled that the city's bans were in violation of the Eighth Amendment, which bans excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment, "when there was no other place in the city for [unhoused persons] to go."
The city's only homeless shelter, Gospel Rescue Mission, has 138 beds, and the plaintiffs have said there is frequently no room for many of the hundreds of unhoused people in Grants Pass.
On Monday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared inclined to agree with the plaintiff in the original lawsuit who claimed Grants Pass ultimately wanted unhoused people to leave the city. She pointed to comments city officials have made about their aim "to remove every homeless person and give them no public space."
"Wasn't Grant Pass's first-attempt policy choice to put people, homeless people, on buses so they would leave the city?" she asked Deputy United States Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler. "Police officers would buy them a bus ticket, send them out of the city. But that didn't work because people came back because it had been their home... So then they passed this law, and didn't the City Council president say, 'Our intent is to make it so uncomfortable here that they'll move down the road,' meaning out of town, correct?"
Kneedler acknowledged that the statement was made at a City Council meeting.
"Not only is [sleeping] something that everybody engages in, but it's something that everybody has to engage in to be alive," Kneedler said in response to a question from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. "So if you can't sleep, you can't live, and therefore by prohibiting sleeping, the city is basically saying you cannot live in Grants Pass."
The city argued in its case that prohibiting local officials from regulating and banning homeless encampments in public places would cause more people to sleep outdoors—an argument U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), speaking at the rally outside the court, said exposed "how absurd our country's approach to the unhoused crisis is."
"Instead of enacting real solutions to the unhoused crisis, Grants Pass has taken this case all the way to the Supreme Court and is calling for the court to overturn a landmark decision from 1962 that says the government cannot punish people based on status. So we're here today to demand the Supreme Court support humanity, adhere to constitutional precedent, and protect the rights of our unhoused neighbors," said Bush, who has spoken about previously being unhoused herself and sponsored related legislation.
"A person should never be punished for not being able to afford rent or a home," Bush added. "A person should never be punished for sleeping outside or in a car when they have no other place to go. A person should never be punished for simply existing. We need universal housing, universal housing vouchers, and a permanent federal rental assistance program—these are all tangible steps that would actually solve this crisis."
The case arrived at the high court four months after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released annual data showing a 12% increase in homelessness last year from 2022, largely due to a sharp rise in the number of people who were without housing in 2023 for the first time in their lives. Experts often argue the federal figures are an undercount.
On Monday, the Eviction Lab at Princeton University released new data showing that in 25 of the 32 cities it analyzed, an increase in eviction filings was seen between 2022-23.
"The country lacks millions of units of affordable rental housing, and in those units that are available, a record number of tenants are paying well beyond their means," reported the Eviction Lab. "High interest rates prevent younger, middle-class renters from buying homes, which in turn increases demand in the rental sector."
Considering the dynamics contributing to a growing unhoused population, Sotomayor asked of people facing homelessness in Grants Pass: "Where are they supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves not sleeping?"
The conservatives on the Supreme Court, who make up the majority, signaled a willingness to rule in favor of the city, with Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledging that the case is centered on "a policy problem because the solution, of course, is to build shelter to provide shelter for those who are otherwise harmless," but noting that "municipalities have competing priorities."
The answer to the questions being asked at the Supreme Court Monday "is not complicated," said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). "Unhoused people need housing. Housing is the answer. Housing NOT Handcuffs."
Ramirez repeated a phrase that was seen on many signs held by rally attendees, who included the national grassroots economic justice group VOCAL and organizers with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC).
"What the Supreme Court decides in this case will say a lot about what kind of country we are and what country we want to be," said Efrén Olivares, director of strategic litigation and advocacy at the SPLC. "We demand a future without policies like the one before the court and a government that instead works to ensure that the right to affordable housing is guaranteed for all."
A ruling in the case is expected in June.
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