abracadabra tour dates

Abbacadabra

All upcoming events.

South Point Showroom at South Point Hotel Casino and Spa | Las Vegas, NV

Popular tracks.

Abracadabra/3hirdegree Shows

Abracadabra & 3hirdegree shows, saturday, march 16, 2024.

3hirDegree Show

Pioneer Bowl

1801 WI-175

Richfield, WI

Friday, March 29, 2024

Abracadabra Returns to Tribe Bar

Tribe Bar & Grill

5132 S. Packard Ave. 

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Bilda's Friess Lake Pub

4493 WI-167

Hubertus, WI

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Saturday, april 27, 2024.

Natty Oaks Pub & Eatery

11505 W. National Ave

West Allis, WI

Pepito's Birthday!!

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Abracadabra Show

Sunday, June 23, 2024

4493 WI -167

Thursday, July 4, 2024

4th of July Celebration

Konkel Park

5151 W. Layton Ave

Greenfield, WI

Friday, July 5, 2024

Gemma  K's Southern Social

N49W34630 Wisconsin Ave

Okauche Lake, WI

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Friday, august 16, 2024.

Waukesha Friday Night Live

Hannon's Stage

357 W. Broadway

Waukesha, WI

Saturday, August 17, 2024

4493 WI-167'

Add a footnote if this applies to your business

Copyright © 2024 Theabracadabraband - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by GoDaddy

• Moscow concerts Moscow concerts Moscow concerts See all Moscow concerts ( Change location ) Today · Next 7 days · Next 30 days
• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Deutsch Português
• Popular artists

Abra Cadabra

• On tour: no
• Upcoming 2024 concerts: none

59,890 fans get concert alerts for this artist.

Join Songkick to track Abra Cadabra and get concert alerts when they play near you.

Find your next concert

Join 59,890 fans getting concert alerts for this artist

Similar artists with upcoming concerts

Tours most with, past concerts.

Wireless Festival

Platinum Room, Elements Casino Victoria

SB.TV Winter Weekender

View all past concerts

Posters (9)

Find out more about Abra Cadabra tour dates & tickets 2024-2025

Want to see Abra Cadabra in concert? Find information on all of Abra Cadabra’s upcoming concerts, tour dates and ticket information for 2024-2025.

Unfortunately there are no concert dates for Abra Cadabra scheduled in 2024.

Songkick is the first to know of new tour announcements and concert information, so if your favorite artists are not currently on tour, join Songkick to track Abra Cadabra and get concert alerts when they play near you, like 59890 other Abra Cadabra fans.

Last concert:

Popularity ranking:

• Deli (6288)
• Abra Cadabra (6289)
• The Beths (6290)

Concerts played in 2024:

Touring history

Most played:

• Nottingham (2)
• Victoria (1)
• Reading (1)

Appears most with:

• Stefflon Don (6)
• AJ Tracey (5)
• Bugzy Malone (4)
• MoStack (4)

Distance travelled:

Similar artists

• Most popular charts
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 604-312-4078

ABRA Cadabra

• Mooncoin Show Band
• The Rocket Man
• Heroes Of Rock
• The Canadian Superstars
• Celebrate Celine
• The Shania Experience
• The Piano Man
• Atari Radio Starz
• The Country Divas
• Take it To The Limit
• Production Services
• Adam Daniel Lucas
• Jonas & Jeanette
• Finding The Leader Within
• Kindness Rocks

Entertainment

A Tribute To The Music Of ABBA

View more videos of ABRA Cadabra

• Phone: (604) 312-4078

Request a Quote

• Testimonials

ABRA Cadabra - A Tribute to ABBA June 20th, 2024

Mae Wilson Theatre - Moosejaw Cultural Centre

217 Main Street North, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan S6H 0W1, Canada

Purchase Tickets Here! By Phone: 306.693.4700

ABRA Cadabra - A Tribute to ABBA June 21st, 2024

Conexus Arts Centre - Regina

200 Lakeshore Drive, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 7L3, Canada

Purchase Tickets Here! By Phone: 306.525.9999

ABRA Cadabra - A Tribute to ABBA June 23rd, 2024

Winspear Centre

4 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4X8, Canada

Purchase Tickets Here! By Phone:  780.428.1414  

ABRA Cadabra - A Tribute to ABBA June 24th, 2024

Red Deer Memorial Centre

4214 58 Street, Red Deer, Alberta T4N 2L6, Canada

Purchase Tickets Here!

ABRA Cadabra - A Tribute to ABBA June 25th, 2024

Jack Singer Concert Hall

205 8 Ave SE, Calgary, Alberta T2G 0K9, Canada

Purchase Tickets Here! By Phone: 403.294.9494

ABRA Cadabra - A Tribute to ABBA June 27th, 2024

Yates Theatre

1002 4 Avenue South, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 0P5, Canada

Purchase Tickets Here! By Phone: 403.329.7328

A vibrant entertainment company offering top-quality entertainment, sound & lighting production and event/production management for events world-wide

Latest Posts

• ABRA Cadabra live at the PNE May 8, 2016
• New Show! June 23, 2016
• Sway World Tour! September 15, 2016

Useful Links

2024 © All Rights Reserved.

Abracadabra

Frank Ticheli

General Info

Year: 2005 Duration: c. 5:15 Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation) Publisher: Manhattan Beach Music Cost: Score and Parts - $125.00   |   Score Only - $20.00

Instrumentation

Full Score Piccolo Flute I-II Oboe I-II Bassoon I-II B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III B-flat Bass Clarinet E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II B-flat Tenor Saxophone E-flat Baritone Saxophone B-flat Trumpet I-II-III Horn in F I-II Trombone I-II Euphonium Tuba Timpani Percussion, including:

• Suspended Cymbal
• Temple Blocks

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Abracadabra was composed in the summer of 2004, and was orchestrated the following November during a residency at the MacDowell Colony. Abracadabra was commissioned by the Driscoll Middle School Band in San Antonio Texas under the direction of Richard Gonzales.

The piece is dedicated to my son, and is at once playful and serious, innocent, and mischievous. A sense of mystery pervades as the dark key of G minor is balanced by sudden shifts to bright and sunny major keys. Throughout the composition I was thinking about magic, not in an evil or frightening sense, but as a source of fun and fantasy. My wonderfully playful, sometimes mischievous young son was always in the back of mind, as were images of Halloween with its costumes and jack-o’-lanterns. As the piece nears its conclusion, the music rushes toward what seems to be an explosive finish. But the woodwinds interrupt, fanning out to a questioning whole-tone cluster. They are answered by a puff of sound, a final disappearing act.

In strictly musical terms, the piece is as clear an example of musical economy as anything I’ve composed. Almost everything is derived from the opening bars of the main theme. Indeed, virtually every note can be traced to the main melody or its accompaniment. Because of this heightened sense of unity, I had to choose other ways to achieve musical variety. The most important solution was through the sudden and frequent shifts of mood, mode, and tonality.

- Program note by composer

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
• Audio CD: Langham Creek High School Symphonic Band (John Whitwell, conductor) - 2005

State Ratings

• Texas: III. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Bemidji (Minn.) State University Symphonic Band (Ryan Webber, conductor) - 13 November 2023
• Kennesaw (Ga. ) State University University Band (Daniel Lee, conductor) - 11 October 2023
• Pittsburg (Kan.) State University Symphonic Band (Johnathan De Soto Jr., conductor) - 3 March 2023
• Sequim (Wash.) City Band (Tyler Benedict, conductor) - 29 October 2022
• Valencia College (Orlando, Fla.) Symphonic Band (Jon Territo, conductor) - 28 October 2021
• University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Maroon Concert Band (John Leonard) - 25 October 2021
• University of Kansas (Lawrence) University Band (Jacqueline Dawson, conductor) – 17 November 2020
• Wheaton (Ill.) North High School Concert Band (Kent Krause, conductor) - 29 October 2019
• Western Illinois University (Macomb) Concert Band (Lauren Wood, conductor) – 23 April 2019
• Randolph (N.J.) High School Concert Band (Michael Lichtenfeld, conductor) – 6 March 2019
• Genesee Wind Ensemble (Oakfield, Mich.) (Philip J. Briatico, conductor) - 18 November 2018
• Charlottetown Rural High School (Prince Edward Island, Canada) Grade 11-12 Concert Band (Mark Parsons, conductor) - May 2018
• Illinois State University (Normal) University Band (Zachary A. Taylor, conductor) – 26 April 2018
• Yosemite High School (Oakhurst, Calif.) Wind Ensemble (Francisco Marquez, conductor) -16 March 2018 (2018 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
• Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.) Band (Daniel Melby, conductor) – 12 November 2017
• Augustana University (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Blue Band (Larry Peterson, conductor) – 11 November 2017
• Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant) University Band (James Batcheller, conductor) – 27 April 2017
• Edison High School (Fresno, Calif.) Symphonic Band (Robert Madrid, conductor) - 25 March 2017 (2017 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
• University of Louisville Concert Band (Jason Cumberledge, conductor) - 21 February 2016
• Illinois State University (Normal) University Band (Johannes Krohn, conductor) – 6 October 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

• Amazing Grace (Adaptable Band) (1994/2021)
• Cajun Folk Songs: Belle (Adaptable Band) (1991/2002/2020)
• Dance (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
• Earth Song (Adaptable Band) (2012/2020)
• Here Take This Lovely Flower (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
• In C-Dorian (Adaptable Band) (2020)
• In Yonder Valley (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
• Joy (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
• Loch Lomond (Adaptable Band) (arr. Ambrose) (2002/2020)
• Moving On (Adaptable Band) (2021)
• Moving On. See also: Suite Treats
• Portrait of a Clown (Adaptable Band) (1988/2020)
• Simple Gifts (four movements) (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
• Simple Gifts (one movement) (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
• Vesuvius (Adaptable Band) (1999/2020)

All Wind Works

• Abracadabra (2005)
• Acadiana (2016)
• Amazing Grace (Ticheli) (1994)
• Amen! (2009)
• An American Elegy (2000)
• Angels in the Architecture (2009)
• Angels Rising (2023)
• Apollo Unleashed. See: Symphony No. 2
• Ave Maria (as arranger) (1825/2004)
• BASH (2021)
• Belle. See: Cajun Folk Songs: Belle
• Blue Shades (1996)
• Boundless River (2020)
• Cajun Folk Songs, Part One (1990)
• Cajun Folk Songs, Part Two (1997)
• Concertino for Trombone (1984/1987)
• Concertino for Trombone, Two Pianos and Percussion (1984/2007)
• Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (2014)
• Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2010)
• Concerto for Trumpet (1990/2021)
• Dance. See: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
• Dancing on Water (2015)
• December Snow (2015)
• Earth Song for Band (2012)
• Fantastic Dreams (2023)
• First Light (2013)
• Fortress (1988)
• Gaian Visions (1990)
• Ghost Tale (2020)
• Here Take This Lovely Flower. See: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
• In Yonder Valley. See: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
• Joy Revisited (2005)
• Korean Folksongs from Jeju Island (2013)
• Life-Stream (2022)
• Loch Lomond (2002)
• Lux Perpetua (2020)
• Midnight in Nairobi (2019)
• Midnight (2019)
• Music for Winds and Percussion ( withdrawn )
• Nitro (2006)
• Over the Moon (2023)
• Pacific Fanfare (1994/2002)
• Peace (2015)
• Portrait of a Clown (1988)
• Postcard (1991)
• Rest (2011)
• Sailing the Sky (2021)
• San Antonio Dances (2010)
• Sanctuary (2006)
• Serenade for Kristin (2018)
• A Shaker Gift Song. See: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
• Shenandoah (1999)
• Silver Lining (2017)
• A Shaker Gift Song (2004)
• Songs of Love and Life (2012)
• Sun Dance (1997)
• Symphony No. 1 (tr. Green) (2001/2011)
• Symphony No. 2 (2004)
• The Tyger (2008)
• Under the Big Top (2019)
• Vesuvius (1999)
• Wild Nights! (2007)
• Frank Ticheli website Accessed 6 July 2020
• Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. 2007. Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 6 Volume 6. Chicago: GIA, pp. 158-166.
• Ticheli, F. (2005). Abracadabra: For Concert Band [score]. Manhattan Beach Music: Brooklyn.
• Compositions

• All Artists »
• Abracadabra

Abracadabra Tour Dates

So far there haven't been any notable Abracadabra concerts or tours added for the United States. Sign up for our Concert Tracker to get notified when Abracadabra shows have been revealed to the schedule. For new announcements pertaining to Abracadabra concerts, take a look at our Tour announcements page . In the meantime, view other Pop / Rock performances coming up by David Crosby , The Cooper Brothers , and Blue Notes .

Abracadabra Concert Schedule

No events =(, abracadabra concert tour questions & comments, abracadabra tour and concert ticket information.

• Sold Out concerts will not be any concern, we always have great seats.
• Abracadabra tour dates has recently been revealed.
• Tickets for the approaching Abracadabra concert can be found here.
• Tour schedules for all Abracadabra concerts are updated on a regular basis.
• Concert dates for Abracadabra is located above.

Abracadabra may come to a city near you. View the Abracadabra schedule above and press the ticket link to checkout our huge inventory of tickets. Look through our selection of Abracadabra front row tickets, luxury boxes and VIP tickets. After you track down the Abracadabra tickets you desire, you can buy your seats from our safe and secure checkout. Orders taken before 5pm are usually shipped within the same business day. To purchase last minute Abracadabra tickets, browse through the eTickets that can be downloaded instantly.

Concert Tracker

• Follow your favorite performers and cities
• Receive alerts when new shows are announced
• Get updates for the latest concert schedules
• Never miss a show again!

Trending Tours

Bruce Springsteen

Janet Jackson

Justin Timberlake

The Rolling Stones

Lauren Daigle

Morgan Wallen

Megan Thee Stallion

Delbrook hot tub wheelchair lift out of service

ABRA CADABRA

ABRA Cadabra returns to The Centennial Theatre after 3 years for their final stop on their Western Canada Tour “I Still Have Faith In You’!

For exclusive Early-Bird tickets, please click the buy tickets link and enter your pre-sale access code.

News & Stories

Google Translate is provided as a free tool to enhance the usability of the North Vancouver Recreation & Culture website. As such, the North Vancouver Recreation & Culture is not responsible for Google Translate™. 

ABRACADABRA 2024

Flushing Meadows Corona Park - Queens, NY

The Great Auditorium - Ocean Grove, NJ

Bushnell Park - Hartford, CT

Lake Arbor Community Center & MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino - Mitchellville, MD

Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD

Marshfield Fairgrounds - Marshfield, MA

Carrie Furnace - Pittsburgh, PA

Atwood Lake Park - Mineral City, OH

Historic Crew Stadium - Columbus, OH

Voice of America MetroPark - Olde West Chester, OH

Ohio State Reformatory - Mansfield, OH

Burl's Creek Event Grounds - Oro-Medonte, ON

Belknap Park - Grand Rapids, MI

GingerMan Raceway - South Haven, MI

Midland County Fairgrounds - Midland, MI

Interstate Center - Bloomington, IL

Three Sisters Park - Chillicothe, IL

SantAnna Mykonos - Platýs Gialós, Greece

Koufonisia Classical Festival - Koufonísi, Greece

Aegialis Hotel & Spa - Paralía Tholaríon, Greece

Melina Mercouri Open Air Theatre - Výronas, Greece

Athens Greece - Athens, Greece

Olympic Athletic Center of Athens "Spiros Louis" - Athens, Greece

Athens Conservatoire - Athens, Greece

Veikou Grove - Galátsi, Greece

Odeon of Herodes Atticus - Athens, Greece

six d.o.g.s - Athens, Greece

Cruise - Athens, Greece

Water Square - Athens, Greece

ms Oosterdam - Athens, Greece

Technopolis City of Athens - Athens, Greece

Water Square - Kallithéa, Greece

Find a Place to Stay: Hotels & Rentals Near ABRACADABRA 2024

• Weird But True
• Sex & Relationships
• Viral Trends
• Human Interest
• Fashion & Beauty
• Food & Drink

trending now in Lifestyle

Bride calls out wedding guest's 'ridiculous' RSVP: 'Nothing I can...

'Ozempic butt' leaves ladies feeling 'deflated' ahead of beach...

Billionaire's wife stinks of entitlement as messages show her...

Inside Costa Rica's 'cave of death' which kills all that enters

These are the hilarious finalists of the Comedy Pet Photo Awards...

I couldn't afford my dream home — so I spent $15,000 turning my...

Dear Abby: My dad told me I'm the reason my parents are getting...

I'm 65 and sexier than ever— people mistake me and my...

What is the ‘barbara’s rhubarb bar’ tiktok trend ‘a song you can’t even understand, stuck 24/7’.

• View Author Archive
• Email the Author
• Follow on Twitter
• Get author RSS feed

Contact The Author

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

Was ist tanz?

If you spend time scrolling through TikTok, you might have heard a German rap going viral.

Most people on the platform admit they have no clue what the words mean, but they can’t get it out of their heads.

Turns out, it’s not even a real rap.

The catchy song is actually a German tongue twister called “Barbaras Rhabarberbar,” or “Barbara’s Rhubarb Bar,” about a woman named Barbara and her rhubarb cakes.

Musical comedian Bodo Wartke and content creator Marti Fischer took the tongue twister and morphed it into a rap that has since been turned into a dance and gone viral.

@steph_who___ (Please tag us if you try out our dance we would love to see :)) Also side note these are costumes….. we don’t actually dress like this irl hehe #babara #BarbarasRhabarberbar #dance #theatrekids #theatre #batboy #musicaltheatre #stephwho #babaradance ♬ Barbaras Rhabarberbar – Bodo Wartke & Marti Fischer

The original video of Wartke and Fischer recording the rap was posted in December and has since garnered 34.4 million views on the two-part release on TikTok , as well as 3.5 million views on YouTube .

TikTok content creators @steph_who___  and  @Christina Stasii   created a dance for the song, writing over the video, “You have a song you can’t even understand stuck 24/7.”

The song and dance quickly spread throughout the platform, especially after popular TikTok choreographers @Cost n’ Mayor  and  @KayCee Stroh participated in the trend.

Wartke and Fischer even got in the trend, coming full circle and dancing to the rap they made.

@bodowartke Thank you to @Stephanie and @CHRISTINA STASII for the great choreography you came up with for our song, and many thanks to everyone around the world who is dancing to it, especially @Cost n’ Mayor and @KayCee Stroh for making it a worldwide phenomenon! @Marti Fischer and I are already working on the sequel…! ♬ Barbaras Rhabarberbar – Bodo Wartke & Marti Fischer

The translated lyrics : “Once upon a time in a small village lived a girl called Barbara, and Barbara was known in the entire country for her abnormally good rhubarb cake. Yes, you could say that Barbara’s rhubarb cake was an unconditionally magical experience. Abracadabra. Yes, this case was almost bombastic and after, its demand increased drastically.

“In the same year Barbara opened a bar and called it ‘Barbara’s Rhabarber Bar.’ In the village there were also a couple barbarians, they found out about Barbara’s rhubarb bar and because after that they were with Barbara daily, they were soon called the rhubarb bar barbarians.

“In the following years the barbarians stopped their barbaric behavior. They were, claimed Barbara, almost friendlier than Barbapapa, but the barbarians were very hairy and they all had a scrubby barbarian beard — not special at all. Consequently, Barbara sent her barbarian friends to the barbarian beard barber. He even shaved the barbarians’ entire heads. He was indeed a terrible chatterbox, but after that the beard was totally tiptop.”

Share this article:

Advocates for homeless seek lasting solutions even as Supreme Court weighs Grants Pass case

Early before arguments began at the U.S. Supreme Court on April 22, 2024, demonstrators set up signs for a "Housing Not Handcuffs" rally, which drew more than 600 people.

Jeremiah Hayden / Street Roots

Cassy Leach woke up early on April 22, the day the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Grants Pass v. Johnson across the country in Washington, D.C.

That morning, Leach, Mobile Integrative Navigation Team, or MINT, cofounder, a Grants Pass service provider for people living in parks, tuned into the livestream while helping a 62-year-old homeless woman look for her cat, Sylvester. The cat had gone missing in Fruitdale Park when Grants Pass police forced the woman, who is blind in one eye, to move her tent and belongings two miles away to Tussing Park.

A Grants Pass city ordinance requires homeless residents living in vehicles to move every 72 hours, and police require anyone living in parks to move as often as is allowed by state law, which is also every 72 hours.

Related: Grants Pass v. Johnson: Here's what led to key homelessness case before high court

Later that day, Leach drove another homeless resident to a doctor’s appointment, dropped off wound supplies in local parks and transported an elderly, deaf homeless resident to an orthopedist appointment.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the case out of southern Oregon, expected in June, will broadly impact how local governments write homelessness policy in the United States.

Since the Supreme Court took up the case in January, Democrat and Republican governments, district attorneys and business associations submitted amicus briefs arguing a 2022 Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals injunction removes necessary tools for enforcing laws against homeless residents sleeping on public property.

A host of organizations submitted amicus briefs in support of counsel representing homeless residents, saying laws punishing individuals for being homeless are cruel and unusual. The briefs also argued the laws do nothing to solve the homelessness crisis and will likely exacerbate the issue.

Leach said most Grants Pass residents are well aware of the case before the Supreme Court. Some hope the justices will uphold the ordinance, and others generally support efforts to solve the housing crisis, regardless of the court’s decision. While there are fundamental disagreements on how to treat homeless residents in Grants Pass, Leach said the community can agree to come together and create a safe place for people so they don’t have to live in the parks.

“We still need to do something, so let’s just do it,” Leach said.

’You don’t arrest babies who have blankets’

The Supreme Court is a lavish theater for a case deciding whether cities can punish people for sleeping when they have nowhere else to go.

Court staff ushered some 400 guests, lawyers, journalists and family members across the Grand Hall and into the courtroom through bronze gates flanked by marble pillars on the morning of arguments. Dark, wine-red drapery framed the chambers on all sides. Above the curtains, friezes of prophets, owls and allegorical figures looked on just beneath a high red and blue-checkered ceiling with white and gold-trimmed rosettes as court aides paced across the bench between two American flags.

For over two and a half hours, the justices questioned counsel for each side, as well as Edwin Kneedler, U.S. Justice Department deputy solicitor general. A central theme was where the line should be drawn between the involuntary status of being homeless and the conduct associated with being homeless.

That question of status and conduct arises from a 1962 Supreme Court decision in Robinson v. California. Justices ruled it is cruel and unusual for the state to punish a person for a status — in that case, the status of being addicted to narcotics — and therefore violated the Eighth Amendment. However, in a case six years later, Powell v. Texas, justices decided the state can punish a person for the conduct of using substances, creating a legal distinction between status and conduct.

The justices presented a range of hypotheticals meant to clarify the question: Addiction is to drug use as sleeping is to what? And where is the line between a universal need and punishable behavior?

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson helped differentiate between the conduct of drug use as a consequence of the status of having an addiction and the conduct of using a blanket for the universal status of needing to sleep. She said drug use is punishable because it is not a universal need, despite some people having an addiction to drugs. However, people cannot be held criminally liable for universally necessary acts that are in and of themselves not criminal, like using a blanket to sleep.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Grants Pass v. Johnson on April 22, 2024, an Oregon case on whether punishing homeless residents violates the Eighth Amendment.

“Not only is it something that everybody engages in, but it’s something that everybody has to engage in to be alive,” Kneedler responded.

In this case, counsel for homeless residents argued the city of Grants Pass punished the status of being homeless by creating ordinances making it impossible for homeless people to be anywhere in the city without receiving constant fines or jail time — a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Jackson asked whether the same ordinance could apply to eating in public spaces. Justice Neil Gorsuch extended the question to whether other biological necessities, like urination and defecation, would be considered status or conduct. Chief Justice John Roberts went so far as to ask if being a bank robber is considered a status, while Justices Samuel Alito and Gorsuch tested whether a person could steal food if they were hungry without being punished.

In an early, fiery exchange, Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Theane Evangelis, Grants Pass’ counsel, if the city enforced the ordinance against the general public or exclusively against people who have no other place to go.

“If a stargazer wants to take a blanket or a sleeping bag out at night to watch the stars and falls asleep, you don’t arrest them,” Sotomayor said. “You don’t arrest babies who have blankets over them. You don’t arrest people who are sleeping on the beach.”

Evangelis said the laws apply to everyone.

“Yeah, that’s what you want to say,” Sotomayor said.

Sotomayor referenced an amicus brief filed by a group of criminal law and punishment scholars, which included testimony from a police officer saying that someone would “violate the ordinance if he did not ‘have another home to go to,’” and “laying on a blanket enjoying the park” would not violate the ordinance. In other words, sleeping in public is a crime for homeless individuals, but not for those who have a home.

Evangelis said one example exists of a person in Grants Pass receiving a citation despite having a home address.

“There’s nothing in the law that criminalizes homelessness,” Evangelis said.

’Ending homelessness is possible’

Early on the cool April morning in Washington, D.C., before oral arguments began, a crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court. In the clear sky, the sun rose behind the building, forming a corona around its roof.

The National Homelessness Law Center, or NHLC, organized a rally for “Housing Not Handcuffs,” a national campaign advocating for housing as a human right and demanding an end to the criminalization of homelessness.

Over 600 people showed up for the event, which included homelessness advocates from across the country giving speeches.

Jesse Rabinowitz, NHLC campaign and communications manager, said the court’s decision to hear the case indicates how politicized homelessness has become.

“It’s also a reflection on the fact that we do have a homelessness crisis in this country and our elected officials are not doing what they need to do to make sure everyone has housing that meets their needs,” Rabinowitz said.

Rabinowitz said it is a catalyzing moment for homeless advocacy across the nation.

“We know that ending homelessness is possible, but it’s going to take building power and getting our elected officials to do their jobs,” he said.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2023 “Out of Reach” report shows a person needs 1.6 full-time jobs at minimum wage, or must make at least $22.44 per hour to afford a two-bedroom at fair market rent in Grants Pass.

As the justices debated the constitution some 3,000 miles away, Leach saw a similar demonstration as she drove past the Josephine County Courthouse. Roughly a dozen homeless residents held signs reading “Stop Sweeps” and “If everyone can’t pay the rent, they shouldn’t fucking take our tent.”

’Objectively reasonable’

The Oregon Legislature passed ORS 195.530 in 2021, which dictates laws regulating sitting, lying, sleeping or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property “must be objectively reasonable with regards to people experiencing homelessness.” The statute is somewhat vague, and cities like Portland — Oregon’s largest city — have battled in court to determine what is “objectively reasonable.”

Lawmakers intended to codify the 9th Circuit’s 2018 Martin v. Boise decision into the state statute, which ruled 9th Circuit jurisdictions, including Oregon, have the authority to regulate when and where people can or cannot stay but cannot punish people when shelter is unavailable.

Martin v. Boise served as the backdrop for the Grants Pass case when it arrived at the 9th Circuit, and governments leaning toward both sides of the aisle argue the two 9th Circuit decisions hamstring them from solving the homelessness crisis.

Referring to the state law, Jackson asked about “constitutional avoidance,” a legal doctrine that would allow the Supreme Court to decline to render a decision on the constitutionality of the Grants Pass ordinance. Roberts appeared to also question the court’s responsibility, asking why “these nine people are the best people to judge and weigh those policy judgements.”

The lower court’s decision will stand if the court decides not to issue a ruling as a matter of constitutional avoidance. Kelsi Corkran, Georgetown Law Supreme Court director and counsel for the class of homeless residents, told the court she would have no issues with that outcome.

If the court determined the ordinance does not violate the Eighth Amendment because Oregon has a necessity defense, the burden of proof would fall on each homeless individual to show a court they were sleeping outside for a reason, each time they received a citation.

Ed Johnson, Oregon Law Center director of litigation, initially filed the suit against Grants Pass in 2018. On the sidewalk below the steps of the high court, he said in a city with zero available emergency shelter, the status and conduct of homelessness are two sides of the same coin.

“Living outside and trying to stay warm with a blanket is literally the definition of what it means to be homeless when you don’t have anywhere else,” Johnson said.

’Homelessness is a choice made by our elected officials’

On April 17, just five days before the case arrived at the Supreme Court, Grants Pass City Council unanimously approved a new MINT property just off Redwood Highway. Leach said people who initially opposed MINT’s tactics showed up to testify in support of its efforts.

One Grants Pass resident previously testified in a contentious May 17, 2023, City Council meeting, saying the community needed to “get aggressive” and “take their parks back,” calling on neighbors to “make them feel uncomfortable.” Less than a year later, he told City Council the new MINT shelter is a “win-win” because “abracadabra” won’t fix the issue regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision.

A local “park watch group” organizer recently volunteered to install flooring in the new MINT building.

“I get emotional just thinking about it,” Leach said. “When you’re doing something good and right, people come along.”

Rabinowitz said in the places most successful in reducing homelessness — like Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Houston, Texas — everyone comes to the table to address the root causes.

“Ending homelessness requires collaboration and buy-in,” Rabinowitz said. “That cannot happen when the government is focused on throwing away people’s stuff and throwing folks in jail.”

Tickets can impact credit scores, making it more difficult for people to be accepted into housing, and a criminal history also creates significant barriers.

“All of these things break connections and displace people from their chosen communities,” Rabinowitz said. “They all make homelessness worse.”

There is a broad range for what the Supreme Court could ultimately decide, Rabinowitz said. It could uphold the 9th Circuit’s decision saying civil and criminal punishments against homeless residents for being homeless are cruel and unusual. It could say people can be fined but not arrested, or it could overturn Martin v. Boise. While there appeared to be little appetite for it in the courtroom, the court could go so far as to say it has wrongly interpreted the Eighth Amendment in cases like 1962′s Robinson v. California. That could make way for laws criminalizing other involuntary statuses.

Rabinowitz said in the best-case scenario, the Supreme Court will set a bar — albeit a low bar — saying homelessness cannot be criminalized. People still need a place to go, regardless of the court’s decision. Until the support systems are in place to keep people from becoming homeless, the crisis will continue, according to Rabinowitz.

“Homelessness is a choice made by our elected officials every day when they fail to fund housing,” he said.

Leach, MINT volunteers and the coalition of organizers in Grants Pass are trying to address their community’s short- and long-term needs. Whether providing emergency shelter, health care and harm reduction tools or reuniting Sylvester the cat with his owner in the park, Leach said she believes Grants Pass will make national news again, “but for how we worked to fix homelessness and housing.”

Despite philosophical clashes and frustrations in the local community, Leach remains hopeful as the national spotlight shines on the city.

“There’s a weird unification that’s happening,” she said. “And it’s beautiful.”

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story failed to distinguish between a Grants Pass ordinance requiring homeless people living in cars to move every 72 hours and Grants Pass police requiring people living in parks to move as often as is allowed by state law, which is also every 72 hours. This story has been updated to include that distinction.

Street Roots is covering the Grants Pass case in a media collaboration with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Street Roots is a nonprofit organization in Portland, Oregon, that publishes a weekly social justice newspaper sold by people experiencing homelessness and poverty to earn an income. Learn more at streetroots.org .

OPB’s First Look newsletter

Streaming Now

BBC Newsday