Supreme Court ruling won’t affect Sacramento’s homeless policy, officials say. What has changed?

Sacramento’s mayor said that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to uphold the power of governments to impose civil punishment for camping outside would not change the city’s “balanced, compassionate approach” toward homeless people. However, the city and county adopted ordinances in 2022 that allow officers to move and fine people even if no shelter beds are available — and they have been exercising the law.

The new ruling, that was issued on Friday, overturns the 2018 Martin v. Boise ruling, which barred cities from criminalizing homeless people on public property unless there is an available shelter bed for them.

The city of Sacramento generally interpreted Boise to mean it cannot clear camps on public land without offering shelter beds (which are typically full). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued more guidelines banning sweeps, which led the city to back off on sweeps even further.

Then in 2022, amid complaints from home and business owners, the city and county adopted ordinances banning camps that block sidewalks, as well as along the entirety of the American River Parkway. The city also has an ordinance that bans “unlawful storage of personal property on public property.” These ordinances have given the city leverage clear camps on public land even when no shelter beds are available.

In March, two homeless women showed The Sacramento Bee citations they had received from the county and city for camping on public property.

On March 13, a Sacramento police officer handed Theresa Rivera a criminal citation, similar to a traffic ticket, for storing personal property on public property and erecting a sign on a sidewalk — violations of city ordinances. After getting the ticket, Rivera, 45, who uses a wheelchair, tried to quickly pack up her camp before a storm hit. She now faces a $233 fine, according to court records.

Fourteen days later, across the river in a field in Rio Linda, a Sheriff’s deputy handed homeless woman Carol Dutcher a misdemeanor citation for violating a state trespassing law. The address listed on the citation is 6325 Linda Lane, which is public land owned by the county.

Dutcher tried to ride her bicycle to court Wednesday for her scheduled appearance, but got in a crash and was unable to make it, she said.

It’s now possible she has a warrant for her arrest, said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

“The ticket has been a huge stress,” Dutcher said Friday. “I’ve never been cited for a misdemeanor in my life. It makes me fearful of law enforcement.”

Sacramento officials react to Grants Pass v. Johnson

The decision in the Grants Pass v. Johnson, which weighed the legality of anti-camping ordinances in the town of Grants Pass, Oregon, gives local governments the ability to outright ban homeless camps on all public property at all times of day, said Jeff Selbin, a UC Berkeley law professor.

“I think it green lights banishment if that’s what a city chooses to do,” Selbin said. “It’s an invitation to do that. Hopefully no cities will. I’d be surprised if Sacramento adopted that as a formal policy. But I think it’s going to increase harassment, ticketing, and suffering, without addressing the underlying crisis of affordable housing and short term shelter.”

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, whose term ends in December, said the ruling should not affect how the city handles homeless camps.

“Unsheltered homelessness in Sacramento fell 41% between 2022 and 2024 due to our strategy of combining more shelter, housing, and services with an insistence that people cannot live in large encampments and violate ordinances protecting sidewalks, parks, and other critical spaces,” Steinberg said in a statement, referring to a new report that showed the city’s homeless population is decreasing.

Spokespeople for the Office of the City Manager and for the county both said they were reviewing the Supreme Court decision and would continue to provide homeless services.

Although City Councilmembers Eric Guerra and Rick Jennings have previously attempted to enact a daytime camping ban, there is little interest on the current City Council to adopt new homeless bans.

Guerra supports the new ruling as giving the city more “tools to use for enforcement.”

“This decision is critical in allowing us to protect our public spaces, because we can make our city safer at the same time as being compassionate toward those who need it the most,” Guerra, who recently was re-elected to the council, said in a statement. “This decision gives us a better chance at doing both.”

District Attorney Thien Ho also celebrated the ruling Friday. He had publicly criticized the city in August 2023 for not issuing fines to homeless people for blocking sidewalks. Ho, who has also sued the city over its homeless camps, submitted a brief to urge the Supreme Court to take up the case.

“Since my office filed the lawsuit against the city seven months ago, we have seen more consistent enforcement than in the last seven years,” Ho said in a statement to The Bee. “In fact, all 16 encampments listed in my lawsuit have been cleared. The mayor’s Martin v. Boise experiment can no longer be used as an excuse to do nothing. We must now redouble our efforts to provide comprehensive services and compassionate enforcement with an approach guided by empathy, respect, and a commitment to creating a healthier and safer Sacramento for everyone.”

Sacramento’s largest homeless service provider, Loaves & Fishes, was far less celebratory of the ruling.

“The criminalization of unhoused people will only create more barriers to the services so desperately needed to support their access to housing (and other) services,” the nonprofit said in a statement. “At Loaves & Fishes, we stand firmly with our vulnerable, unhoused neighbors, and we will be here to support their survival in the wake of this ruling.”

Sacramento’s homeless population skyrocketed to roughly 9,300 in 2022, followed by a decrease to about 6,600 in 2024, according to federally-mandated Point in Time reports which used different surveying methodologies.

The city has a waitlist of about 2,400 people for its 1,300 shelter beds. The county, which has a larger budget, has about 775 shelter beds. It plans to open over 250 new shelter beds on Stockton Boulevard and Watt Avenue soon.

Sacramento County Supervisor Rich Desmond said the decision will not slow the county from opening new shelter beds.

“It certainly won’t impact our efforts to continue building shelter capacity for people so they have a safer alternative to living outside,” Desmond said.