Workers clear a homeless encampment in Berkeley, California, on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Local officials and advocates in California are divided over Gov.
Gavin Newsom's recent executive order requiring state agencies to remove homeless encampments on public property, leaving the homeless community caught in the middle and uncertain where they will go. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that punishing homeless people for sleeping on public property does not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. According to an assessment provided to Congress last year by the Department of Housing and Urban Development , there were about 180,000 homeless people across the state, making California's homeless population one of the highest in the nation along with New York's, Florida's and Washington's.
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In an effort to address the rising levels of homelessness , Newsom, a Democrat, ordered state agencies to adopt plans to remove homeless encampments across the state — one of the most direct reactions to the Supreme Court's decision and a path other states could soon follow. While local governments are not .