Rep. Watson Coleman Statement on Supreme Court Decision Criminalizing Homelessness

Rep. Watson Coleman Statement on Supreme Court Decision Criminalizing Homelessness

Today, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court's decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, allowing states to criminalize homelessness.

"This decision is inhumane. It punishes people who are struggling simply because they are struggling.

"Nobody chooses to be homeless. This decision will only lead to further mass incarceration of people in underserved and overburdened communities. It will do nothing to address the root causes of homelessness in this country, and make no progress towards reducing poverty and housing instability across the nation - in fact, it will likely exacerbate these issues.

"Each Justice in the majority of this opinion has professed to take Christian teaching seriously. To be guided morally by their faith. I defy you to find for me where in Christ's teaching we receive the lesson that the poor should be punished for their poverty.

"I was raised on the belief that to whom much is given much is required. That there, but for the grace of God, go I. That it is our responsibility to clothe the naked and feed the hungry. I believe that the antidote to poverty is compassion, not cruelty. This decision is an affront to everything I believe."