Savannah's Chatham County shelves anti-homeless ‘urban camping’ law, for now

Caption

Chatham County Commission meeting on Friday, Dec. 6.

Credit: Chatham County

Officials in Savannah's Chatham County have tabled a controversial ordinance that opponents say would criminalize homelessness.

Chatham County commissioners had been scheduled to consider a so-called “urban camping” code during their regular Friday meeting.

However, the item was taken off the agenda shortly before, with no official explanation given during the meeting.

If passed, the measure would make it a criminal offense to sleep in public spaces — meaning sheriff's deputies could possibly fine or jail people experiencing homelessness.

Local laws such as the one proposed in Chatham County were declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court this past summer in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson.

The Court's conservative supermajority ruled in that case that the incarceration of involuntarily homeless people does not violate a citizen's protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

A Chatham County spokesperson wrote in a statement to GPB that the ordinance “was not ready to be read in to the record yet,” and would be introduced at a future meeting.

The measure has already drawn fierce opposition from the public: an online petition organized by the Savannah Democratic Socialists of America garnered nearly 500 signatures within 24 hours.

In a statement to GPB, Savannah DSA wrote that the law would punish vulnerable people for what the group said is local governments' “failure” to provide affordable housing.

“Arresting, imprisoning, or even fining the unhoused further hinders them of the stability they need to find work and housing,” the group wrote, “and is not a just or sustainable solution for the housing and thus homelessness crisis.”