Grant's Pass immediate legal impact: Court order restricting SF homeless sweeps is officially no more
In response to SCOTUS' recent Grant's Pass ruling, an appeals court has overturned an injunction that has prevented San Francisco from enforcing or threatening to enforce laws that prohibit sitting, lying or lodging on public property. Gabe Grechler reports for the always impressive SF Standard.
The ruling is a direct result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision late last month which gives American cities more latitude in clearing homeless encampments, a major victory for elected officials and residents who have been raising concerns about the conditions of San Francisco’s streets for years. Advocates have spoken out against the high court’s ruling, claiming it criminalizes homelessness and sweeps the issue under the rug.
The direct result of the Supreme Court’s decision and Monday’s ruling weren’t immediately known. However, city officials such as Mayor London Breed have indicated that San Francisco will start citing homeless individuals or even arrest them if they refuse shelter. Officials have told The Standard that outreach workers will likely have to make fewer determinations when they clear an encampment. The city is still working through its exact policy and has yet to release a comprehensive plan on how they will respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Monday’s ruling is part of a lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Coalition on Homelessness, which claimed that San Francisco was breaking the law during its encampment sweeps. The case relied upon previous rulings that the Supreme Court overturned in Johnson v. Grants Pass, specifically surrounding claims about the 8th Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause.
The injunction was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu in December 2022 to the dismay of the mayor. It specifically called out San Francisco for failing to prove that it was offering shelter to every person impacted by its homeless sweeps, pointing to a dearth of alternatives for unhoused individuals.
A separate part of the lawsuit which has to do with 4th Amendment questions and how the city can handle homeless people’s property will still be sorted out in local courts. Homeless residents are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
“This will give our City more flexibility to provide services to unhoused people while keeping our streets healthy and safe,” said City Attorney David Chiu in a statement Monday. “It will help us address our most challenging encampments, where services are often refused and re-encampment is common.”
Read the whole thing here.
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