Commentary: Yes, CARE Court and indiv constitutional rights coexist

Steve Heimoff of Coalition for a Better Oakland chimes in on Newsom's CARE Court proposition, which is backed by local pols including former SJ councilmember Khamis. Here, Heimoff indicates that contrary to some dichotomous criticism, sheltering unhoused people who are mentally unwell will uphold individual rights—by keeping our public streets safe for everyone.

There’s a certain type of homeless advocate that wants poor unhoused people to stay in the streets, even if they’re severely mentally ill. They tend to be identified in the media as “disability rights” advocates and claim that any attempt to shelter people against their will is an unconstitutional deprivation of their civil rights....

The latest appearance of this type is a coalition of three such groups-- Disability Rights California, Western Center on Law and Poverty and the Public Interest Law Project—that last month asked the California Supreme Court to strike down Gov. Newsom’s CARE Courts. Under Newsom’s proposal, a relatively small handful of the most outrageously crazy homeless people—the ranters and hallucinators—would be forced into hospitalization and rehab at the behest of their families.

That this makes perfect sense is undeniable. These poor souls have no ability to care for themselves, making them dangerous to themselves and others. They have no right to roam our streets, interfering with innocent passersby and businesses, relieving themselves publicly. No normal society in the history of the world has permitted such individuals the privilege of free passage. Gov. Newsom, who as a politician probably has had more experience with the problem of homelessness than any other in America, is to be commended for a wise and necessary program. Whether or not CARE Court actually can work, and whether it can be funded, are yet to be determined, but CARE Court deserves to be rolled out and tried.

This article originally appeared in Coalition for a Better Oakland. Read the whole thing here.

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