Judge Rules on ‘Involuntary Homeless’
Judge Rules on ‘Involuntary Homeless’
A judge ruled that a person is not ‘involuntarily homeless’ if their city has offered them any form of housing.
From National Review. San Francisco leaders are preparing to ramp up efforts to clean up and clear out homeless camps in the city after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified that people who decline shelter should not be classified as āinvoluntarily homeless.ā
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The clarification could also be critical for other western cities, which have struggled with the proliferation of homeless encampments on sidewalks and in public parks in the wake of two Ninth Circuit rulings āĀ Martin v. City of BoiseĀ andĀ Johnson v. City of Grants PassĀ ā that limited the enforcement of camping bans on people who have nowhere to go.
San FranciscoĀ mayor London Breed announced MondayĀ that the clarification provides the city with a āpath forwardā to enforce laws against āvoluntarily homeless individuals.ā
The clarification by the Ninth Circuit comes nearly a year after the city was sued by a coalition of advocates for the homeless who claimed that the city violated state and federal laws, as well as its own policies on clearing homeless camps and trashing peopleās belongings. ā¦
In December, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu issued a temporary injunction in the case that limited the cityās ability to enforce laws against sitting, lying, or sleeping in public for people who are āinvoluntarily homeless.ā In the wake of the injunction, the city was limited to clearing camps for health and safety reasons and to provide access to sidewalks, and only after providing a 72-hour notice, according to theĀ San Francisco Chronicle.
Last year, the city counted 7,754 homeless people living in the city, and more than half of them were unsheltered. ā¦
Breed said on Monday that the city āengages thousands of unhoused people in encampments each year by offering shelter and services,ā and that the city has made āsubstantial investmentsā in its stock of supportive housing and shelters. But some people on the streets donāt want to be sheltered, and they use tent encampments ānot primarily for housing but to conduct illegal behavior like drug dealing, human trafficking, and theft,ā Breed said. ā¦
āIt does not make sense that a person who rejects a shelter offer or has a shelter bed but chooses to maintain a tent on the street should be considered āinvoluntarily homeless,āā San Francisco City AttorneyĀ David Chiu said in August, before the courtās clarification.
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit judges agreed that āa person is not involuntarily homeless if they have declined a specific offer of available shelter or otherwise have access to such shelter or the means to obtain it.ā Chiu and Breed praised the courtās order. ā¦
She said city workers are getting updated training about what they can and cannot do to clear homeless camps in light of the Ninth Circuitās clarification and Ryuās injunction, which is still in place. But, she said, they are āgetting preparedā to begin enforcing anti-camping laws again. ā¦
The Ninth Circuitās clarification about what it means to be āinvoluntarily homelessā in the San Francisco case could end some confusion over what western city governments can do to enforce anti-camping laws in the wake of the courtāsĀ MartinĀ andĀ Grants PassĀ rulings.
In 2018, the Ninth Circuit ruled in theĀ MartinĀ case that municipalities canāt impose criminal penalties against homeless people for sitting, sleeping, or lying on public property if they have no available shelter. In 2022, in theĀ Grants Pass case, the Ninth Circuit added that the Oregon city canāt enforce anti-camping ordinances āagainst homeless persons for the mere act of sleeping outside with rudimentary protection from the elements, or for sleeping in their car at night, when there is no other place in the City to go.ā ā¦
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(Excerpt from National Review. Photo Credit: MattGush/Getty Images)
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Comments
The idea that people reject shelters to participate in illegal activities is incorrect
Shelters can be a very inhumane places. Additionally, they do not allow you to bring your animal companions
Signed,
Been homeless multiple times but never on drugs
Thank you Father for this ruling.