People v. Kellogg
California Court of Appeal
119 Cal. App. 4th 593 (2004)
Relevant factsFree
Kellogg, homeless and suffering from chronic alcoholism and mental health conditions that doctors found prevented him from maintaining housing, was repeatedly arrested for public intoxication, including once for sitting on a highway embankment while intoxicated, and argued his conviction violated the Eighth Amendment and its state analog because his alcoholism and homelessness made avoiding public intoxication impossible.
IssueFree
Whether a state statute can constitutionally impose criminal liability on a person for improper conduct, even if the conduct is the result of a condition or status that cannot be constitutionally penalized.