Supreme Court grants cert on Eighth Amendment issue relating to enforcement of public camping restrictions to homeless

As flagged in this recent post, SCOTUS Justices have been actively considering two especially notable Eighth Amendment cases, and this afternoon via this new order list the Court formally granted cert in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson.  The cert petition in this case presented the Question Presented this way:

In Martin v. City of Boise, 920 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2019), the Ninth Circuit held that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause prevents cities from enforcing criminal restrictions on public camping unless the person has “access to adequate temporary shelter.”  Id. at 617 & n.8.  In this case, the Ninth Circuit extended Martin to a classwide injunction prohibiting the City of Grants Pass from enforcing its public-camping ordinance even through civil citations.  That decision cemented a conflict with the California Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit, which have upheld similar ordinances, and entrenched a broader split on the application of the Eighth Amendment to purportedly involuntary conduct.  The Ninth Circuit nevertheless denied rehearing en banc by a 14-to-13 vote.

The question presented is: Does the enforcement of generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment?

Regardless of the issue, it is often a solid bet that the Supreme Court grants cert with an eye on reversal.  Predicting a reversal here seems especially wise given both the particulars of the ruling below and the apparent views of the current Justices on applying the Eighth Amendment.  But the terms of Eighth Amendment debate (and likely reversal) in this new case could prove both interesting and quite important, especially since the current Court has taken up so few Eighth Amendment rulings in recent years.