Homeless Man Charged with Felony for Camping Under Tennessee Ban
NASHVILLE — Joseph Lamont Williams, a 49-year-old chronically homeless man, was arrested on June 28 and charged with two felony counts of camping on state property under Tennessee’s unique felony camping law, becoming one of the first individuals prosecuted since the law’s expansion in 2022. After spending nine days in jail, Williams pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge and was released — only to return immediately to the South Inglewood Park picnic pavilion where he had been living, according to NPR.
The Law and the Arrest
Tennessee’s law (TCA 39-14-414) makes unauthorized camping on public property a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and a $3,000 fine. Originally passed in 2012 as the Equal Access to Public Property Act targeting state-owned land, the law was expanded in 2020 during pandemic protests and again in 2022 to cover all public property — making Tennessee the only state in the U.S. to classify public camping as a felony.
Williams was tased by police when he attempted to flee after being told there was a warrant for his arrest. He was charged with two felony counts of camping and one misdemeanor count of evading arrest. Alissa Heydari, his court-appointed attorney, said the arrest “makes what is already a very difficult life situation for Mr. Williams harder and worse.”
Under a plea agreement, Williams pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and was sentenced to time served. The two felony counts were dropped. He was released on July 6.
A Neighborhood Transformed
Williams grew up in East Nashville, a historically African American community that has undergone rapid gentrification over the last two decades. The public housing complex where he was raised has since been demolished. He now sleeps on picnic tables under a pavilion in South Inglewood Park, within sight of where his childhood home once stood.
“It has changed so much,” Williams told NPR. “The color boundaries, let’s keep it real, that’s changed. Putting more, better housing and stuff like that around. Knocking some old ones down.”
Alex Bilbrey, a neighbor who moved into a house across from the park about three months ago, said he initially didn’t mind Williams’ presence but grew concerned after observing what he described as suspicious activity after dark. He contacted the police, leading to Williams’ arrest.
National Context: A Wave of Camping Bans
Williams’ case unfolds against a rapidly shifting national landscape. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which allowed cities to ban sleeping in public, more than 300 municipalities have enacted camping bans, according to the National Homelessness Law Center. Eleven states have passed such laws in the last four years.
A WPLN News report from April 2025 documented how Tennessee lawmakers have continued adding homelessness-related penalties, including expedited clearing of encampments under highways and bridges and easier eviction of people sleeping at vacant commercial properties.
Lindsey Krinks, co-founder of Open Table Nashville, a nonprofit homeless support organization, criticized the approach. “Both bills are operating with the understanding that homelessness is something that you can clear out of sight, out of mind,” she told WPLN. “It’s like a band-aid. It’s dressing something up on the outside without addressing the underlying causes of homelessness.”
The Cicero Institute’s Influence
Behind many of these laws is the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank founded by tech billionaire Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir. Devon Kurtz, who oversees Cicero’s homelessness policy, told NPR that the intention is not to jail people but to provide incentive for unhoused individuals to seek services.
“My hope is that no one is ever convicted under any of these camping bans,” Kurtz said. “The intention is not to jail people. I’ve also said, however, that sometimes, at the margins, it is essential that law enforcement has the ability to jail them because it can save lives.”
Regarding Williams’ case specifically, Kurtz acknowledged the apparent cycle but defended the outcome: “I understand the way it seems a bit ineffective that he ended up right back where he was. But even insofar that he is back in that park, the fact that whatever encampment he had created … was cleared, that park is safer.”
Homelessness in Nashville
Nashville’s Homelessness Planning Council estimated in December 2025 that roughly 4,300 people experience homelessness in the city — an increase of more than 30% in less than a year. Nearly 40% of Tennessee’s unhoused population, estimated at around 8,000, lives in Nashville.
Nationally, homelessness dipped slightly in 2025 after reaching record levels in 2024, but chronic homelessness has grown. HUD’s most recent data found more than 155,000 chronically homeless people in the U.S.
What’s Next
Williams’ case has become a flashpoint in the national debate over the criminalization of homelessness. Advocates argue that the felony charge only deepens the cycle of poverty and makes it harder for individuals to secure housing and employment. As Krinks put it: “The only way to end homelessness is with a home — not handcuffs.”
For now, Williams continues his daily routines in the park — going on long walks, making up songs, and sharing breakfasts with his friend John Lozier, a retired social worker who befriended him years ago. When asked about the possibility of being arrested again, Williams said he doesn’t let his mind wander into dark places. He simply returned to where he has lived his whole life.
This article was compiled from reporting by NPR, WPLN News, and the Nashville Banner.