"The point is to make it uncomfortable enough for them in our city so they will want to move on down the road." - Lily Morgan, Grants Pass City Council President.1 Lily Morgan, here referring to the unhoused in her city, is anything but a lone crusader. After her city's anti-camping ordinance was upheld against a Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause challenge in Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for cities nationwide to deprive the civility and dignity of our country's most vulnerable citizens-our unhoused neighbors. Public officials are responding accordingly, effectively banishing homeless communities into exile. This comes at a time when states are grappling with a homelessness crisis. New Jersey is no exception. But New Jersey is not without recourse. The seminal decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel Township provides an analytical framework by which shelter should be recognized as a negative right under the state constitution-protecting individuals against government punishment for simply being unsheltered.
To date, the prevailing model of public safety takes the form of a police-centric community policing model where police officers are first to engage with the community on issues such as aiding the homeless, responding to nonviolent mental health situations, stopping traffic, treating youth unemployment, addressing substance use disorder incidents and other societal service activities. As a result, this model encourages and increases civilian contact with armed police officers, which can ultimately result in violent responses and even shootings during nonviolent situations. A history of police violence against nonviolent offenders underscores the depth of the crisis. In May 2020, police officer Derek Chauvin responded to a call over a phony $20 bill. Although such an offense is a minor, nonviolent one, George Floyd was murdered by Officer Chauvin, who restrained Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes. A few years earlier, in Staten Island, Eric Garner was killed by Officer Pantaleo when Officer Pantaleo used an illegal chokehold on Garner that ended his life for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. Incident after incident has demonstrated that there is a pressing need to rethink public safety. This Article argues that we need to rethink public safety by (1) narrowing the scope of police responses to only violent crimes, ongoing crimes, and serious felonies, and (2) creating a team of Civilian Unarmed Public Safety Responders ("CUPSR") to respond to all other nonviolent crimes.
In Sackett v. EPA, the United States Supreme Court departed from precedent and adopted a relatively narrow interpretation of the geographical scope of the Clean Water Act. As a result, the Court effectively eliminated the federal government's ability to regulate and protect a vast number of the country's freshwater wetlands. To fill this regulatory gap, individual states must now seek to enact their own statutes to protect freshwater wetland ecosystems from unmitigated degradation and destruction. To that end, states should consider adopting a model freshwater wetland protection law that draws upon the strengths of existing state-level programs and seeks to balance environmental interests with the interests of private property owners. Existing state-level programs, such as that created under New Jersey's Freshwater Wetland Protection Act, should serve as a framework upon which this model freshwater wetland statute is based.
Sea level rise-one of the most consequential effects of climate change-will have an outsized impact on New Jersey. Increased flooding will permanently alter the state by causing devastating damage that leaves many homes uninhabitable, precipitating a need to relocate residents before that happens. Due to its voluntary nature, the state's current property acquisition program can only do so much to respond to this looming crisis. Accordingly, New Jersey should use eminent domain in a fair and equitable manner to compel homeowners to move before disaster strikes. Given its distinct coastal geography, environmentally progressive policies, and effective, established buyout scheme, the Garden State is an ideal place to enact a groundbreaking buyout program backed by eminent domain that can be used to proactively protect residents from the impending threat presented by rising sea levels.
