Is it legal for someone to sleep on the sidewalk or other public property?

A 2018 landmark federal court decision said yes — if there aren’t shelter beds available. Allowed to stand by the Supreme Court in late 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Martin vs City of Boise that ticketing, arresting or otherwise criminalizing people living outside violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Several California cities and counties have pushed back against that ruling, saying it hamstrings their efforts to clear homeless encampments that pose serious public health and safety risks.

In April, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in another case that asked the same question. A decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon vs Johnson, expected shortly, could upend six years of legal protections for people who sleep outside in public places. 

In an effort to crack down on homeless camps, California cities including San Diego recently banned encampments in certain areas, such as near schools. But there appears to be little appetite for a statewide ban. For two years in a row, bills proposing such a ban have died early deaths.

Police departments and sheriffs still can enforce various “quality of life” ordinances, as well as bans against public defecation and drug use. Many advocates say issuing citations against these behaviors is counterproductive, because people experiencing homelessness have few resources to pay off city fines, and brief incarceration episodes only add to housing instability.

Experts question the effectiveness of encampment clearings, where people can lose what little belongings they still have and still not be anywhere closer to getting housed. Through a computer modeling study that did not undergo peer review, Boston researchers disbanding a homeless camp was more likely to drive up overdoses, hospitalizations and mortality. A national study conducted by Abt Associates and commissioned by the federal government found that clearings have very high price tags, but show little in the way of results.