Bipartisan Anti-Camping Bill Moves to Hearing

In a rare event in Sacramento, four Democrats are joining sixteen Republicans on April 16 as sponsors of California Senate Bill 1011 that would put teeth back into public nuisance laws that used to allow arrest and removal of individuals camping on sidewalks or within 500 feet of a public or private school.   

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2018 in Martin v. City of Boise, 902 F.3d 1031 (9th Cir. 2018), which held that the “US Constitutions Eighth Amendment prohibits the imposition of criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter.”  

That ruling was narrowed by the Court in 2022 to protect only involuntarily homeless persons who are engaging in conduct necessary to protect themselves from the elements when there was no shelter space available.

Under existing law, a person who lodges in a public or private place without permission is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.  The law also provides that a person who willfully and maliciously obstructs the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place is guilty of a misdemeanor.  This also applies to obstructing the free passage or use of any public park, square, street, or highway, among other things.  

But the Courts have required that the camper has to be seen as a nuisance to an entire community, neighborhood, or a considerable number of persons. If all these provisions are met, the camper can be declared a public nuisance and removed by an officer authorized by law.

But the limitation on enforcing public nuisance law require the camper to be “injurious to health or indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.”  That sets a high bar before enforcement.  

SB 1011 would prohibit a person from sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property upon a street or sidewalk if a homeless shelter, as defined, is available to the person. The bill would also prohibit sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property within 500 feet of a public or private school, open space, or major transit stop, as specified. 

The bill would specify that a violation of this prohibition is a public nuisance that can be abated and prevented.  Furthermore, the bill would also provide that a violation of the prohibition may be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction, at the discretion of the prosecutor. 

SB 1011 requires that the camper must be given at least 72 hour notice  before commencement of any enforcement action, then criminal penalties can be imposed for a violation of these provisions.