California officials get aggressive on homelessness after court ruling
Los Angeles, CA – June 10: After his homeless encampment under the 110 Freeway was removed by the city of Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas, Calvin Hall, 63, who has been homeless for four years, returns from grocery shopping through a fenced-off area to a new area near the 110 Freeway and the Los Angeles Convention Center. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Across California, homeless encampments on city streets, in public parks and beneath highways have become among the most visible symbols of the state’s overwhelming challenges with affordable housing. Government officials are now using their newfound power to take on the problem.
In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3, with the conservative majority voting together, that cities are allowed to enforce fines and make arrests for public camping and sleeping outdoors, and to threaten jail time for those who repeatedly refuse to move indoors and accept assistance.
The decision overturned a 2022 ruling by an appeals court, which favored a group of homeless people in the small Oregon city of Grants Pass.
After the decision, California Governor Gavin Newsom applauded the clarity outlined in the ruling and put out an executive order in July pushing local governments to “develop their own policies to address encampments with compassion, care, and urgency.”
The order included guidance for cities and counties in a state that had more than 181,000 homeless people in 2023. Newsom said in a statement in June that the court’s decision “removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities.”
On Tuesday, Newsom signed two new laws. One will make it easier for service providers to place unhoused people into privately owned hotels and motels for more than 30 days, and the other speeds up the process for local governments to construct junior accessory dwelling units for shelter.
California accounted for nearly one-third of the country’s unhoused population last year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Over the past five years, the state has invested $27 billion to address the homelessness crisis, including $1 billion in encampment resolution funds.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) reacts as he speaks to the members of the press on the day of the first presidential debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello
Marco Bello | Reuters
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who’s in the midst of a tight reelection campaign, has responded to the executive order with sweeps to clear encampments, and offered bus tickets out of town. Breed’s order cited data from this year’s Point-in-Time Count, which found that 40% of the homeless population in the city came from elsewhere in California or from out of state, up…
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