JustLeadership Condems California Governor’s Executive Order to Demolish Homeless Encampments and Criminalize Homelessness

JustLeadershipUSA joins California-based homelessness and housing organizations in condemning Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order calling for state officials to begin demolishing homeless encampments that will lead to forcefully removing people and their belongings, as well as ticketing or arresting people experiencing homelessness.

Gov. Newsom’s order follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s ideologically driven ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson last month, which reversed constitutional protections for people experiencing homelessness and emboldened jurisdictions seeking to criminalize homelessness.

These decisions are tantamount to kicking people when they are down by further marginalizing an already vulnerable population …

JustLeadershipUSA and the JustUS Coordinating Council decries the Governor’s executive order as it represents a further erosion of the moral fabric of our society as well as a dangerous and rapid, national shift away from proven, affordable housing and supportive services solutions. A rapid shift backward to regressive, punitive-driven, costly, and discriminatory approaches that were tried before but failed. Additionally, one of the key moral problems with Gov. Newsom’s executive order and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson is that they allow the enactment of laws that criminalize homelessness and perpetuate unjust discrimination against individuals experiencing homelessness or poverty. These decisions are tantamount to kicking people when they are down by further marginalizing an already vulnerable population and hindering their ability to seek assistance and support.

The data is clear: People who have been incarcerated just once experience homelessness at a rate nearly 7 times higher than the general public. And people who have been incarcerated more than once have rates 13 times higher than the general public. This means, people who have been incarcerated multiple times are twice as likely to be homeless as those who are returning from their first period of incarceration.

The inhumanity of Gov. Newsom’s executive order—and any other state governor who might decide to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on our unhoused neighbors based on the Supreme Court’s decision—is that it fails to address the root causes of homelessness and poverty, instead choosing to punish those who are most in need of assistance. This goes against fundamental principles of justice, fairness, basic human dignity, and human rights of all individuals, regardless of their socio-economic status.

JustLeadershipUSA stands and aligns with other partners in urging Gov. Newsom and his administration to reverse the executive order and focus on a better way forward based on data-driven, equitable, and fiscally responsible solutions, including the necessary investments identified in the California Homeless Housing Needs Assessment.

Learn more about how we are elevating issues impacting the 70+ million justice-impacted Americans at the Federal level through the JustUS Coordinating Council at justuscc.org.