Can California Cities Clear Homeless Camps? Depends on Supreme Court Ruling

Supreme Court Justices on Monday heard oral arguments in a case expected to have a profound impact on how local governments address homeless encampments—particularly in California and the West, where the crisis has for years been in a state of escalating emergency. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, California’s homeless population swelled to 181,399 in 2023, 68 percent of whom are unsheltered. Nearly half of all unsheltered Americans live in California. At issue in Grants Pass, Oregon v. Gloria Johnson is whether laws regulating public dwelling or camping violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment....