San Francisco to begin clearing homeless encampments in August, mayor says

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is preparing to clear the city of most homeless encampments.

Breed, who was at a mayoral debate Thursday, said despite the city’s efforts to provide more housing options and catered services, it’s not enough,

“The problem is not going to be solved by building permanent supportive housing or shelter alone; we have to start cutting off the opportunities that exist in San Francisco,” she said.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public spaces. The 6-3 decision overturned a lower court's ruling that deemed it cruel to punish people for sleeping outside if they have nowhere else to go, citing the Eighth Amendment.

The ruling also changes laws across the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes California, where a large portion of the county’s unhoused population resides. The ruling now grants local governments the right to enforce more local powers as cities, like San Francisco, grapple with record high rates of homelessness.

Breed thanked the Supreme Court for its decision and said in the coming weeks, city officials are going to begin moving encampments.

“Effective August, we are going to be very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments, which may even include criminal penalties,” Breed said.

Julian Highsmith, the policy and communications director with the Coalition on Homelessness San Francisco, said the mayor’s approach is not the answer.

“I really think that if we follow the approach that the mayor is suggesting, it isn’t really going to solve the problem. I think issues will get worse, and I think everyone is affected by it; not just the unhoused folks but all of San Francisco,” Highsmith said.

Since the high court’s ruling, social activists have come out and said the decision will make it harder for the 250,000 homeless people across the country and won’t solve larger underlying issues.

The mayor’s office issued a statement defending Breed’s comments.

“San Francisco is a city that prioritizes compassion and will continue to lead with services, but we cannot allow people to refuse services when shelter is offered and available,” the statement read.

Advocates for the unhoused have come out and said there are still several legal challenges to camp clearing polices and said they hope decisions made will ultimately offer more protections to the unhoused.

Writing the dissent, Justice Sonya Sotomayor said the decision does not keep in the mind the most vulnerable. She added that by only focusing on the need of cities, an unhoused person is left with “an impossible choice — either stay awake or be arrested.”