Newsom Orders State Agencies to Clear Homeless Encampments

by Contributing Author

by Marisa Kendall/CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom today ordered state agencies to remove homeless camps throughout California, his first major show of force since the Supreme Court granted state and local authorities more power to clear encampments.

Newsom’s executive order mandates that state agencies and departments adopt policies to clear camps on state property. It also encourages local governments to do the same.

“This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them — and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newsom said in a news release.

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Supreme Court Allows Criminalization of Homelessness

by Contributing Author

story and photos by Jeremiah Hayden

The United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson on June 28. The case out of Oregon will broadly impact how local governments write homelessness policy across the nation.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson on June 28, reversing the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals injunction barring the southern Oregon city of Grants Pass from enforcing ordinances banning sleeping in public spaces.

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Op-ed: Still Cruel and Unusual, Despite SCOTUS Ruling

by Contributing Author

by Lukas Illa

In the waning hours of its 2024 term, the U.S. Supreme Court published its decision on Grants Pass v. Johnson, which criminalized the existence of homeless people. In the days that followed, homeless advocates in the Bay Area pointed to the fact that in his majority opinion, Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch cited the amicus brief filed by San Francisco officials eight times.

The City’s amicus brief,

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Locked Out: Supportive Housing Denies Tenants Access to Community Areas

by Contributing Author

In 2008, the Salvation Army opened a community center at 242 Turk St. in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. It’s a Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center, whose stated mission is to provide supportive health services and housing for formerly homeless adults, foster youth and veterans living with behavioral health conditions, and nurture a safe space for the community’s youth. Next to the center is Railton Place, an apartment complex owned by the Salvation Army and managed by the John Stewart Company,

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‘5150s’ Expected to Worsen Under New California Laws

by Contributing Author

by Cathleen Williams, Homeward Street Journal

Maggie, an activist and advocate for the unhoused community, is a single mom who grew up in Venice, California. (Maggie is a pseudonym, to protect her privacy.) Today, few can afford to actually rent in Venice—Maggie lives in an oversized van: “Barely legal,” she says. 

When her daughter became delusional, hallucinating, paranoid, reaching a crisis point in her struggle with mental health disability,

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