HAMPTON, Va. — Imagine being arrested for sleeping outside because you’re homeless and have no place else to go.
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case that could make that the reality for people across the United States.
James Tyler is homeless.
“I sleep in a graveyard," Tyler said.
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He has a job and is doing what he can to get out of being homeless.
Arresting the homeless for sleeping outside doesn’t make sense to him.
“There are other things to worry about than homeless people," said Tyler.
News 3 met Tyler while he was getting lunch from HELP, Inc.
It’s a nonprofit in Hampton that provides a variety of services primarily intended to help people experiencing homelessness.
“For us as a service provider, for us as a community, even as an area — Hampton Roads in general — we see a lot of homelessness," said HELP, Inc. Executive Director Matthew Stearn.
In his words, the possibility of sleeping outside being criminalized is scary.
“We’re criminalizing something that people just don’t have access to," said Stearn.
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If the Supreme Court does allow sleeping outside to be criminalized, organizations like his could see an increase in the number of people they have to serve.
“We’re already seeing a jump," Stearn explained. "With this, if that changes to add more fear to the problem of being homeless, then yes, we could see another big influx of folks coming in. That’s going to be a challenge on our system for sure."
As of Monday, it was too soon, though, to start trying to prepare for such a decision.
“We would have to wait and see what the Supreme Court says, and then it also comes down to a conversation with our local law enforcement," Stearn said. "It comes down to a conversation with our local city leaders to really determine how we address this."
For Tyler, the thought of being arrested for sleeping outside doesn’t scare him.
"There’s too many of us," said Tyler. "It’s wasted paperwork."
There is no indication of when the Supreme Court will rule on the case as of this article's publishing.
