SCOTUS’s Grants Pass v. Johnson: Cruel and Unusual Punishment for Poverty

Asleep on the top bunk of a homeless youth shelter in Portland, Oregon, I woke gasping for air. I couldn’t move. Flailing, I tried to throw off the sheets binding me down in the darkness.

A figure loomed above me. Someone was holding me down, not something. Panicked, confused, and disoriented, I thought I was dreaming.