--- description: Such bans could violate citizens' Eighth Amendment rights title: DOJ: Sleeping in Public Bans May be Unconstitutional image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc87940f9e73e21ce/69885f3ee53aba1f754df145/homeless-sleeping.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Federal Government Says It's Unconstitutional to Ban Sleeping in Public by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2015 11:25 PM CUT  Home bitter home Home bitter homeGetty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2015 11:25 PM CUT The U.S. Department of Justice says that banning people from sleeping in public could be a violation of their constitutional rights. The [Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/13/its-unconstitutional-to-ban-the-homeless-from-sleeping-outside-the-federal-government-says/ "undefined") delved deep into a statement of interest filed by the Justice Department in a case out of Boise, Idaho. In Boise, lawmakers enacted a ban on sleeping in public—something the Justice Department says could be in violation of a person’s Eighth Amendment Rights. “Sleeping is a life-sustaining activity — i.e., it must occur at some time in some place,” the Justice Department argues. “If a person literally has nowhere else to go, then enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance against that person criminalizes her for being homeless.” The strong statement comes amid a flurry of laws that ban sleeping or camping in public, even as shelters across the U.S. struggle to maintain enough beds to shelter those without a place to call home. Read more at the [Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/13/its-unconstitutional-to-ban-the-homeless-from-sleeping-outside-the-federal-government-says/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3997439/department-justice-sleeping-public/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3997439/department-justice-sleeping-public/"},"headline":"Federal Government Says It's Unconstitutional to Ban Sleeping in Public","datePublished":"2015-08-13T23:25:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:10:26.161Z","description":"Such bans could violate citizens' Eighth Amendment rights","url":"https://time.com/3997439/department-justice-sleeping-public/","keywords":["Justice Department","cities","idaho","justice","homeless","homelessness","Homes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc87940f9e73e21ce/69885f3ee53aba1f754df145/homeless-sleeping.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc87940f9e73e21ce/69885f3ee53aba1f754df145/homeless-sleeping.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"homeless sleeping","caption":"homeless sleeping","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3997439/department-justice-sleeping-public/","name":"Federal Government Says It's Unconstitutional to Ban Sleeping in Public"}}]}] ```