By Gabby McIntyre
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently called for California to crack down on the state’s unhoused population by calling for a potential ban on encampments. Newsom cited that the tents block parks, sidewalks, and other public property. The state of California holds the United States’ largest number of homeless people, containing around half of the nation’s homeless population.
As reported by the Public Policy Institute of California, the state has 187,000 unhoused individuals, with about 2/3rds of them being without shelter. In pursuit of his goal, the Governor called for the outlawing of camping on public property, making the act a criminal offense, but did not list any specific punishments for people residing in an encampment. Punishment and offences would be handled at the city level according to the state model that Newsom proposed. The severity of the punishments would also vary depending on the city the person was in. Despite previous Supreme Court rulings that cruel and unusual punishment can not be inflicted upon people who were found sleeping in a public area, the recent ruling of Grants Pass v. Johnson changed this.
Quickly after this change, encampment sweeps began to happen around the state after orders from the Newsom administration. Some sweeps are more aggressive or humane than others. With previous hostility in mind, many have been calling into question the ethics and morals of a potential statewide ban on public encampments.
References:
Cremin, S. (2025, March 25). Homelessness hits record high in California, jumps dramatically in rest of US. Public Policy Institute of California. https://www.ppic.org/blog/homelessness-hits-record-high-in-california-jumps-dramatically-in-rest-of-us/
City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 603 U.S. 520 (2024). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. (2025, May 12). Governor Newsom releases state model for cities and counties to immediately address encampments with urgency and dignity. State of California. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/05/12/governor-newsom-releases-state-model-for-cities-and-counties-to-immediately-address-encampments-with-urgency-and-dignity/