Assembly Republicans urge overturn of encampment ruling for US

Nov. 1—Assembly Republicans called upon California Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, on Wednesday to direct the Office of Legislative Counsel to file an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Martin v. Boise.

In 2018, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that cities cannot enforce anti-camping ordinances if they do not have enough homeless shelter beds available for their unhoused population. The ruling held that it is "cruel and unusual" to enforce fines or arrest homeless people for sleeping outside if they have nowhere else to go.

Assembly Republicans believe that being allowed to enforce these penalties with anti-camping ordinances will "eliminate a barrier that too many have relied on to justify and excuse their failures to address the homelessness crisis." Overturning Martin v. Boise would also allow legislators to focus on other driving factors for homelessness such as rising housing costs, mental health treatment and substance use, officials said.

"California needs to be all-in on ending the human devastation we're seeing throughout our state," Assembly Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said in a statement. "The unchecked crime, addiction and mental illness on our streets need to stop. It's time to clear these encampments and eliminate open air drug markets — overturning Boise will be a critical step in that effort."

In 2009, six homeless people sued the city of Boise, Idaho, after receiving fines from police for sleeping on public property. They argued that the three homeless shelters in Boise at the time were frequently at max capacity or required long-term residents to enroll in Christian-based programming. Federal judges sided with the plaintiffs nearly a decade later.

"As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter," the court wrote.

Criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping or lying outside — which the court said are "unavoidable consequences of being human" — violated the Eighth Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual" punishment. In addition, the court determined that programs that require faith-based treatment do not count as available shelter as it conflicts with the First Amendment right to religious freedom.

The Seattle Times reported that the number of fines for camping on public property dropped from hundreds to dozens per year since the Martin v. Boise ruling. However, the ruling did not stop crackdowns on living outside.

The number of encampments in downtown areas along the West Coast proliferated in 2020 and 2021, as did the size of encampments, the Seattle Times reported. In addition, the number of people sleeping on the streets of Sacramento County more than tripled between 2018 and 2022.

According to court filings, San Francisco cited or arrested homeless individuals almost 3,000 times for "lodging without permission" or for refusing to obey a law enforcement order to "move along" between July 2018 to October 2021.