The state has the highest homeless population in the country, estimated at more than 180,000 people.
LOS ANGELES—In a highly anticipated ruling, the Supreme Court on June 28 held that cities can restrict homeless encampments on public property, overturning lower court rulings that found penalizing people for sleeping outside violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
For local governments, the ruling brought clarity after years of legal limbo, restoring local control over the delicate balance between protecting the rights of homeless people, and protecting public safety and health.
But as government officials in California reacted, the scope of continued disagreement became clear, and the picture for California less so—where local ordinances are likely to be enforced differently.
“This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on commonsense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
Activists and many other politicians, meanwhile, condemned it as a shameful criminalization of homelessness—an added cruelty for those who have nowhere else to go.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath slammed the decision and vowed to fight, or perhaps, ignore it.
“As the Chair of [the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority] and the Board of Supervisors I want to be crystal clear: The criminalization of homelessness and poverty is dangerous. It does not work. And it will not stand in Los Angeles County,” Ms. Horvath said in a statement.
Benjamin Henwood, director of the Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research at the University of Southern California, told The Epoch Times that while “most people saw this coming,” it doesn’t change the underlying political calculus, which includes ideological battles around mental health and addiction treatment and affordable housing.
“If a politician is really getting pressure to clear a specific encampment, yes that can happen easier,” said Mr. Henwood, who led the Los Angeles Homeless Authority’s 2024 Point-in-Time homeless count.
