Homeless advocates say Sacramento courthouse clearing violates judicial ethics

The Sacramento Homeless Union is accusing the presiding judge of Sacramento Superior Court of violating the California Code of Judicial Ethics after he sent a letter last month urging the mayor to clear homeless encampments from the sidewalks near the downtown courthouse.

“The release of this letter has had the consequence, whether intended or not, of increasing this climate of fear, this kind of mentality that is all out to get rid of the homeless one way or another,” said Anthony Prince, the attorney representing the homeless union at a Tuesday news conference . “We’re worried as to whether a homeless person can get justice in this courthouse.”

Under the state’s judicial ethics code, judges cannot make statements “that commit the judge with respect to cases, controversies, or issues that are likely to come before the courts.” Prince and the homeless union argued that the letter, sent by Judge Michael G. Bowman, violates this rule in promoting a “one-sided, distorted and false narrative of the homeless situation.”

Both Bowman and Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho wrote letters to Mayor Darrell Steinberg late last month urging the city to clear the encampments, referencing 86 incidents documented by the DA involving homeless people and “open air drug use and dealing” outside the downtown courthouse.

Prince said the letters were a “gross exaggeration of the situation.” According to Sacramento police crime map data from June 1 to July 5, he said, there were only three incidents in the courthouse area.

Steinberg said the city would clear the camps by mid-July, moving many to the city’s sanctioned safe ground campground at Miller Park.

On Tuesday, no tents were seen on the steps or sidewalks directly next to the courthouse. Crystal Sanchez, president of the homeless union, said people had likely cleared out when they heard of the potential clearing.

“I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I had to start over,” said Jenny Welles, who was homeless for more than two decades before transitioning to permanent housing last month. “The times I’d go into town to get something to eat and come back in the rain and everything I owned is gone. Just gone.”

The fight is the latest as Sacramento’s homeless population grows and becomes more visible. Over the last three years, Sacramento County’s homeless population has doubled. The number of tents around the city have increased five-fold since 2019.

Clearing comes days before triple-digit heat wave in Sacramento

The sidewalks and steps of the courthouse provided a shady refuge from the heat for people experiencing homelessness. Sacramento is forecast to exceed 100 degrees Friday through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, peaking at 110 degrees Saturday.

“The difference between standing out there in that sun and being under this, this little shield right here can be the difference between heatstroke and heat stress and great bodily harm,” Prince said.

A federal judge barred Sacramento city from clearing homeless encampments last summer in response to a Sacramento Homeless Union lawsuit.

Though the city opened cooling centers, the homeless union says they are difficult to access and not widely known about.

The courthouse was also a popular encampment spot because of its proximity to the Sacramento County Main Jail downtown, according to Sanchez.

“A lot of people are dumped,” she said. Sanchez has found recently released people “with no shoelaces, no shirts.”

“I completely get the business frustration and the resident frustration, but where’s the accountability and transparency for that? Where’s the services?”

Steinberg’s solution not adequate, advocates say

In response to Bowman and the DA’s letters, Steinberg said he would work on opening spots at Miller Park.

Both Sanchez and Prince said that Miller Park is not an adequate solution, citing the site’s extreme heat and previous issues with water access. The campground reopened this year with 15 temperature-controlled trailers that can hold 45 people.

The “one shining exception” is Camp Resolution, Prince said. “That shows me that there’s a possibility of reaching some kind of accord.”

In April, Prince represented the California Homeless Union in a successful negotiation for a formal lease for an encampment of homeless people at Camp Resolution, located on the corner of Colfax Street and Arden Way in North Sacramento.

“I will say that there that shows me that there’s a possibility of reaching some kind of accord. We’re gonna push them to get back to the negotiating table and get some heat related measures in here quick, fast and dirty,” Prince said.

This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 2:59 PM.