Can California cities sweep homeless camps? What to know about a key 2018 court decision

After Sacramento cleared a highly-visible homeless encampment on the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue Monday, activists argued the sweep’s legality, citing a 2018 federal appeals court decision.

The decision, known as Martin vs. Boise, has prevented the city in the past from sweeping homeless camps on publicly owned land without providing shelter to individuals.

The Boise decision had ripple effects across the West Coast, including in Sacramento County, which has more than 5,500 unhoused people, according to the 2019 point-in-time count. The 2022 count took place in February and will be released later this year.

California cities have struggled with how to manage homelessness since the 2018 decision, with many local governments attempting to move camps in accordance with guidance from the ruling, which mandates providing adequate shelter to individuals. For example, last summer Venice Beach officials cleared out homeless tents from the city’s boardwalk and relocated the unhoused individuals into temporary housing.

What exactly is Martin vs. Boise and what does it do?

What was the precedent for the ruling?

A group of homeless people living in Boise, Idaho, sued the city in 2009 over an ordinance that banned sleeping in public places.

In 2014, the city of Boise changed this rule and prevented homeless people from being punished for sleeping outside when shelters were full. However, the issue persisted even when beds were available due to shelters’ limits on how long people could stay as well as certain religious requirements.

Judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in 2018 interjected and said cities could not punish homeless people sleeping in outdoor public areas “when those people have no home or other shelter to go to,” according to the opinion.

The panel, which ultimately sided with the group of six homeless people, came to the consensus that the ordinance violated the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.

The 9th Circuit is considered the largest appellate court, with jurisdiction spanning nine states and two territories across the western United States as well as Hawaii and Alaska. It is headquartered in San Francisco.

In February 2021, Boise reached a historic settlement in the case and updated ordinances to protect the rights of those unable to access a shelter based on “disability, sexual orientation, or religious practices.” This is to ensure people without housing are not issued a citation when shelter isn’t available to them.

The city also said it would invest more than $1 million dollars towards preventing homelessness and creating or rehabilitating overnight shelter space.

What does it prevent?

In short, the ruling prevents local governments from citing people camping in tents or otherwise on city-owned property when no shelter is available.

Beyond this restriction, the decision is open to interpretation and does not entirely prevent cities from criminalizing people sleeping outside. Under the ruling, cities are allowed to remove homeless camps near “critical infrastructure” such as levees, according to Sacramento’s frequently asked questions page.

“Once a concern or complaint has been received via 311, the City will determine whether, under the law discussed above, any action can be taken and by whom,” the city’s website says.

A 2019 amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief, submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, argued that the Boise decision was “ill-defined and unworkable” and “creates more questions than answers.”

The 36-page document, compiled by California State Association of Counties and 33 local governments, also raised concerns over what constitutes an available shelter bed.

The Supreme Court did not take the case and the 2018 decision stands.

According to a 2019 Bee report, after the Boise decision the city and county stopped citing homeless people for unlawful camping on public property unless police could find them an open shelter bed, offer transportation to it, and the person rejected the offer.

This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 2:22 PM.