Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., is using the legal shield provided by a recent Supreme Court decision to formally grant legal authorities the right to clear homeless encampments from public spaces, The New York Times reported Thursday.
In an executive order, Newsom instructed California officials to begin dismantling thousands of such homeless encampments, according to officials in his administration, instructing state and local authorities to act on the recent Supreme Court decision.
“We must act with urgency to address dangerous encampments, which subject unsheltered individuals living in them to extreme weather, fires, predatory and criminal activity, and widespread substance use, harming their health, safety, and well-being, and which also threaten the safety and viability of nearby businesses and neighborhoods, and undermine the cleanliness and usability of parks, water supplies, and other public resources," Newsome wrote.
In June, the Supreme Court considered whether authorities can criminalize people without homes from sleeping and camping in public places, NPR News reported. In a 6-3 ruling, the court's right-wing majority decided that homelessness can indeed be defined as a crime and people punished for sleeping outside, even when there are no available alternatives for those experiencing extreme poverty.
At the time, Newsom released a statement praising the court's ruling: “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.”
Newsom's praise contrasted with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor's take on what she termed an "unconscionable" decision.
“It is possible to acknowledge and balance the issues facing local governments, the humanity and dignity of homeless people, and our constitutional principles," Sotomayor wrote in her dissent. "Instead, the majority focuses almost exclusively on the needs of local governments and leaves the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: Either stay awake or be arrested."
Homeless encampments have been a persistent issue in California for quite some time. The state has the highest unhoused population in the country, with about 180,000 people sleeping on the streets last year. A recent count showed that approximately, 123,000 people were unsheltered on any given night, the Times reported.
In his State of the State address on Thursday, Newsom addressed the issue of homelessness and said he remains committed to providing the state's unhoused population with alternatives to living on the street.
“No state has done as much as California in addressing the pernicious problem of homelessness that too many politicians have ignored for too long,” he said. “While the causes of homelessness are indeed complex, the solution is rather simple: housing and supportive services.”
