Gavin Newsom says court case limiting California homeless sweeps should go to Supreme Court

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday night that California would file a brief supporting the city of San Francisco in a court case that has significantly limited homeless encampment sweeps in the city where he was once mayor.

“I hope this goes to the Supreme Court,” Newsom said during a Q&A session hosted by Politico. “It’s just gone too far. People’s lives are at risk.”

Newsom’s comments stem from a recent decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that denied the city’s request to lift an injunction limiting city officials from clearing encampments.

The injunction was ordered after the nonprofit Coalition on Homelessness filed a lawsuit in September 2022, arguing that the city was violating state and federal law by clearing tents and seizing other belongings without having enough shelter beds for those living on the streets.

In siding with the nonprofit, a federal judge cited Martin v. Boise, a landmark case that set a federal precedent prohibiting officials from citing or arresting people sleeping outdoors if no shelter is available. In December 2022 the judge issued an emergency order temporarily barring enforcement of city laws against encampments.

Newsom, along with San Francisco Mayor London Breed and state and local elected officials up and down the state, face the brunt of the blame for California’s intractable homeless crisis. Recently, they have attempted to turn that blame onto court decisions limiting their ability to address the homeless crisis and clear encampments.

California Democrats, including Newsom and Breed, argue that the sweeps offer outreach workers the opportunity to connect with unhoused individuals and get them the services and shelter that they need. But advocates for those living on the streets argue that officials are failing to address the root of the problem — a lack of affordable housing and shelter options. In the case of San Francisco, advocates also said officials were routinely violating city policies when evicting encampments and tossing out belongings.

“California needs to be addressing homeless encampments immediately by providing real access to affordable housing and shelter for impoverished Californians struggling to make ends meet,” Zal K. Shroff, an attorney representing the Coalition on Homelessness, said in a news release.

During Tuesday night’s Politico event, Newsom said that judges were taking that case “too far.”

“... So far that even up in Sacramento, we weren’t able to clean up encampments in Sacramento,” Newsom said.

The governor was referring to a federal judge’s order last month barring the city of Sacramento from clearing encampments due to extreme heat.

Under the rules of San Francisco’s injunction, the city can clear encampments that block sidewalks but only after providing 72 hours’ notice. They can still conduct sweeps to address health and safety concerns and request unhoused people to move temporarily for cleaning or conduct.

In a statement released last month, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the court-imposed restrictions had put the city in a “terrible position” and caused “adverse impacts on our streets.”

“Unhoused people are now refusing to engage with San Francisco’s outreach workers and refusing shelter offers more frequently,” he said in the statement.

The appeals court has yet to issue a final ruling on the entire injunction. California’s filing, called an amicus brief, is intended to support the city in quashing the injunction.