A month after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling granted officials new authority to police homelessness, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered state agencies to ramp up encampment sweeps and urged local governments to do the same.
“The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets,” Newsom said in a statement. “There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”
While Newsom’s executive order would not force cities or counties to clear out more camps, it aims to provide a blueprint for responding to street homelessness while “respecting the dignity and well-being of all Californians.”
“We’re eager to work with the state to responsibly and quickly remove encampments from state property in San Jose, especially those adjacent to neighborhoods and in dangerous areas along our freeways and on- and off-ramps,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan in a statement.
Mahan, who’s pushed the city to take a tougher stance on encampments while also building new temporary homeless shelters, including tiny homes.
“Here in San Jose we’re working around the clock to stand up safe, managed placements and require they be used — we appreciate Governor Newsom’s order signaling that the state is also ready to solve this crisis with both compassion and urgency.”
Across California, some 181,000 people experience homelessness on a given night, almost 30% of the nation’s unhoused population. The nine-county Bay Area has an estimated 37,000 homeless residents.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in June granted officials broad authority to clear homeless encampments even when those living on the street have nowhere else to go.
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Since 2018, lower court rulings had prevented local governments in California and throughout the West from arresting or fining people for sleeping on public property if beds weren’t available in homeless shelters. When cities moved to shut down an encampment, they were generally expected to offer everyone living there “adequate shelter.”
Officials across party lines from San Francisco to San Diego argued the shelter requirement had hamstrung efforts to close dangerous tent and vehicle camps and exacerbated the crisis. They had urged the high court to allow more flexibility in clearing and managing encampments — and many, including Newsom, celebrated the high court’s ruling.
Advocates for homeless people, however, argue the ruling could clear the way for officials to “criminalize homelessness” without addressing the root causes of the crisis.