A CalMatters analysis reveals a significant rise in criminal penalties for homeless individuals in California cities after the Supreme Court's Grants Pass v. Johnson decision. This ruling allowed cities to enforce strict camping bans, even without available shelter beds. The analysis, based on over 100 public records, compared arrest and citation data before and after the decision in 2024. It found alarming increases in enforcement across several cities, with San Francisco's arrests skyrocketing 500%, and similar trends noted in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento, despite local leaders' stated opposition to stricter policies.
In San Francisco, then-mayor London Breed promised to be very aggressive in moving encampments following the Grants Pass decision. She delivered: Arrests and citations for illegal lodging increased from 71 in the six months before the ruling to 427 in the six months after—a 500% increase.
Even though Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spoke out against the Grants Pass decision, calling it disappointing and vowing to lead with housing instead of enforcement, homelessness-related arrests increased 68% after the ruling.
CalMatters analyzed data on arrests and citations for camping and other homelessness-related offenses for 2024, comparing the six months before the June 28 Supreme Court decision to the six months after.
The analysis reveals that even cities claiming not to enforce stricter policies due to Grants Pass still experienced significant increases in homelessness-related arrests and citations.
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