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PORTLAND 鈥� An Oregon judge issued a preliminary injunction Friday blocking the city at the heart of a聽U.S. Supreme Court ruling on homeless encampments聽from enforcing its camping rules unless it meets certain conditions,聽as part of a lawsuit聽filed by advocates.

Under the decision by Josephine County Circuit Court Judge Sarah McGlaughlin, Grants Pass must increase capacity at city-approved sites for camping and ensure they are physically accessible to people with disabilities.

Unless those conditions are met, the order bars the city from citing, arresting or fining people for camping on public property; from forcing people to leave campsites; from removing campsites that are not clearly abandoned; or from prohibiting camping in most city parks.

The order still lets the city enforce rules banning sleeping on sidewalks and streets or in alleys and doorways.

Mayor Clint Scherf told The Associated Press he was 鈥渄isheartened鈥� by the decision, and Grants Pass information coordinator Mike Zacchino stated in an email that the city was 鈥渞eviewing all aspects to ensure we make the best decision for our community.鈥�

The lawsuit was filed by Disability Rights Oregon, which accused the city of discriminating against people with disabilities and violating a state law requiring cities鈥� camping regulations to be 鈥渙bjectively reasonable.鈥� Plaintiffs also included five homeless people in Grants Pass.

Grants Pass, a city of about 40,000 along the Rogue River in the mountains of southern Oregon, has struggled for years to address the homelessness crisis and become emblematic of the national聽debate over how to deal with it.

Its parks in particular became a flashpoint, with many of them gaining encampments blighted by drug use and litter.

In June 2024, in a case brought by the city,聽the U.S. Supreme Court ruled聽that communities can ban sleeping outside and fine people for doing so, even when there are not enough shelter beds.

That overturned a California-based appeals court decision that held that camping bans when shelter space is lacking amounted to cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution鈥檚 Eighth Amendment.

Officials from across the political spectrum聽filed briefs in that case聽saying they were hamstrung in their ability to deal with encampments.

After the high court ruling, Grants Pass banned camping on all city property except locations designated by the City Council, which established two sites for the town鈥檚 hundreds of homeless people in a bid to move them from the parks.

Upon taking office in January, the new mayor and new council members moved to close the larger site of the two, which housed roughly 120 tents, according to the complaint. Meanwhile, the smaller one saw its hours of operation reduced to between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., meaning people had to pack up their belongings every morning.

The two sites were frequently crowded, with poor conditions and inaccessibility to people with disabilities due to loose gravel, according to the complaint.

鈥淚t is unconscionable to me to allow people to live there like that,鈥� City Council member Indra Nicholas said before the vote to close the larger site.

After the lawsuit was filed, the city reopened a second, smaller site and extended the time people could stay to four days.

McGlaughlin鈥檚 order says the city must increase capacity to what it was previously before the larger site was closed.

Tom Stenson, deputy legal director for Disability Rights Oregon, called the ruling a victory.

鈥淭his is not a radical solution,鈥� he told the AP. 鈥淭he court is basically saying, 鈥楪o back to the amount of space and places for people who are homeless that you had just three months ago.鈥欌��

Homelessness聽increased 18 percent聽last year nationwide, driven mostly by a lack of聽affordable housing聽as well as聽devastating natural disasters聽and an聽increase in migrants聽in some parts.