California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is set to sign an executive order to push state officials to start dismantling the vast homeless encampments that plague the state, following the recent Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling that doing so is not “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment.
Members of Newsom’s administration said that agencies around the state will be ordered to act “with urgency and dignity” on Thursday, the New York Times reported.
While the executive order cannot force local Californian governments to ramp up the anti-encampment enforcement, Newsom is reportedly set to “exert political pressure through billions of dollars the state controls for municipalities to address homelessness.”
The move comes after the late June City of Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling, which stemmed from an Oregon city’s ban on homeless residents sleeping outdoors being challenged.
In writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch expressed sympathy for homeless people and the complexity of the issue but said that laws against encampments were “commonplace” and argued that the Eighth Amendment was a “poor foundation” on which to challenge them.
Gorsuch opined that the right forum in which to debate responses to homelessness was in democratically elected governments, not federal courts.
“Today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court provides state and local officials the definitive authority to implement and enforce policies to clear unsafe encampments from our streets,” Newsom said in a June 28 press release. “This 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.”
“California remains committed to respecting the dignity and fundamental human needs of all people and the state will continue to work with compassion to provide individuals experiencing homelessness with the resources they need to better their lives,” the governor added.
While Newsom approved of the ruling, some mayors around his state expressed disappointment.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) denounced the SCOTUS decision as an “excuse” for cities to “arrest their way” out of the homelessness crisis:
Today’s decision is not surprising given the make-up of the Court but disappointing nonetheless. This ruling must not be used as an excuse for cities across the country to attempt to arrest their way out of this problem or hide the homelessness crisis in neighboring cities or in jail. Neither will work, neither will save lives and that route is more expensive for taxpayers than actually solving the problem.
The only way to address this crisis is to bring people indoors with housing and supportive services. In the City of Los Angeles, we will continue leading with this approach, which helped move thousands more Angelenos inside last year than the year before. We cannot go backwards – we must continue innovating and moving with intention and urgency until every person experiencing homelessness is able to access housing, services and support.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D), on the other hand, has signaled her support for the ruling and Newsom’s incoming anti-encampment policies, saying that city officials plan to become “very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments” starting in August and might start citing homeless people who refuse offers of shelter.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris (R) said he began “warming up the bulldozer” after the SCOTUS decision, the Times reported.
The outlet estimated that 180,000 people were homeless in California in 2023 — most of them without shelter.
“The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets,” Newsom said in a statement that the publication obtained.
“There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”
