Supreme Court considers homeless regulations – Orange County Register

To combat homelessness, cities in California and the United States have attempted to ban camping on public property. But legal challenges have suspended enforcement of the law, and the Supreme Court is poised to rule. City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. At stake is the ability of public officials to develop nuanced policies to combat homelessness.

The class-action lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of anti-camping ordinances in a small Oregon town, but the impact of the judges’ ruling will be particularly strong here in California. More … than 123,000 Californians are unsheltered – almost half of the total homeless population in the United States.

While the challengers of Subsidy passes While camping bans effectively criminalize the homeless, public officials say these ordinances are a critical tool for addressing public safety issues that arise from homeless encampments. About 30 California cities and counties, along with the League of California Cities, have filed amicus briefs support Grants Pass.

San Francisco and Sacramento, like Grants Pass, have been subject to federal court injunctions that prevent or delay enforcement of anti-camping laws based on the 2018 law. Martin v. Boise decision. This ruling asserts that arresting or citing people for sleeping on public property violates the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment if the individuals have nowhere else to go.

THE Martin This decision left municipalities with few options for managing encampments if shelter availability cannot be confirmed on site. This is, of course, a nearly impossible task for public safety officers, given that the number of beds in open shelters is constantly changing. But many officials, including San Francisco Mayor of London Race And Governor Gavin Newsomargue that banning local governments from cleaning up encampments is neither a workable nor a compassionate policy for combating homelessness.

In our Hoover Institution 2022 report on the state of homelessness in california, we highlighted that law enforcement plays a crucial role in addressing the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness. Finding practical solutions becomes even more relevant as the number of unsheltered homeless people continues to rise.

Encampments can pose serious safety and environmental hazards, as well as homes for criminal activity as drug traffic And violence. San Francisco firefighters intervened more than 680 camp fires in just the first 300 days of 2023, and earlier this year, a Los Angeles fire captain was injured by explosion while battling a camp fire.

Opponents of camping bans argue that they perpetuate a cycle of interactions with the justice system, but this ignores the reality that these orders are key tools used by law enforcement to motivate homeless people to comply. social services. In fact, many camping ordinances require advance warnings and multiple citations before an arrest can be made.

In a joint amicus brief, the California Association of Chiefs of Police and others wrote: “(past court rulings) make it nearly impossible for law enforcement to take advantage of criminal and civil penalties.” to introduce the homeless into programs such as drug diversion courts. These programs have been shown to reduce recidivismbut court injunctions keep homeless individuals on the streets, living in squalid conditions and spilling over into public safety issues.

The upcoming decision of the Supreme Court on Subsidy passes will be monumental for California officials fighting to end homelessness. Californians know well that solving homelessness requires an extensive toolkit, and anti-camping ordinances are a key lever in encouraging people to get the help they need.

The court should give the power to combat homelessness and maintain public safety to municipalities that directly address these issues, rather than constitutionalizing a right to vagrancy on the bench.

Joshua Rauh is the Ormond Family Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Jillian Ludwig is a research program manager for the Hoover Institution’s State and Local Governance Initiative. They are authors of “Homelessness in California: Practical Solutions to a Complex Problem“