SACRAMENTO, CA – ACLU California Action is condemning Governor Gavin Newsom’s call for cities and counties to adopt a model ordinance banning homeless encampments on public property, calling the move “cruel and inhumane” and urging local officials to reject it.
The statement, issued by David Trujillo, executive director of ACLU California Action, sharply rebukes Newsom’s new initiative, arguing that it criminalizes poverty and displaces unhoused residents without offering real solutions.
“Punishing people for being poor does not solve the underlying issues driving California’s housing crisis,” Trujillo said. “We call on city and county leaders across the state to reject Governor Newsom’s cruel and inhumane model ordinance.”
On Monday, the governor unveiled what his administration calls a legally sound, compassionate path for addressing encampments—announcing a statewide model ordinance and $3.3 billion in new Proposition 1 funds to expand behavioral health housing and services. The ordinance provides enforcement tools for local jurisdictions to clear encampments, while outlining minimum requirements for notice, outreach, and connections to shelter.
“There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets,” Newsom said in announcing the plan. “Now, we’re giving [local leaders] a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity.”
But civil liberties advocates say the ordinance does more harm than good—criticizing it for encouraging forced removals and pushing people deeper into instability.
“The governor’s ordinance not only urges local jurisdictions to criminalize and displace those who are unhoused—it encourages them to push the bounds of the law,” Trujillo said. “While the Supreme Court’s ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson eliminated one narrow legal protection for unhoused people, many laws still protect the rights of these individuals—including disability laws and protections for personal property.”
The Grants Pass decision, issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023, upheld the ability of cities to regulate public camping when adequate shelter is offered. Newsom’s team views the ruling as a green light for more assertive encampment policies, provided they meet legal standards. The state’s new ordinance attempts to offer just that—emphasizing health and safety risks posed by encampments, while requiring engagement with service providers, 48-hour notice before clearing, and secure storage of belongings.
Still, Trujillo warned that enforcement-first approaches often violate civil rights in practice.
“Destroying personal property—including wheelchairs, medication, and IDs—and forcing people to move with nowhere to go are cruel, violent, and counterproductive tactics,” he said.
The ACLU is calling on the governor and state lawmakers to shift away from punitive measures and instead establish a long-term funding solution to ensure housing for all.
“Instead of punishing people for being poor, we urge Governor Newsom and our state legislators to establish a permanent funding source that would ensure every Californian has a safe, stable, and affordable home,” Trujillo said.
The governor’s office argues that the model ordinance is rooted in practical success. Since July 2021, a similar strategy implemented by Caltrans has resulted in over 16,000 encampments cleared and more than 311,000 cubic yards of waste removed. The administration claims that the new approach balances compassion with action and is backed by record-breaking investments: more than $27 billion committed to homelessness initiatives over the past several years.
A key component of the plan is accountability.ca.gov, a new dashboard that tracks homelessness metrics across jurisdictions, intended to spotlight which communities are producing results and which are not. Under laws such as SB 1338 and AB 799, funding is increasingly tied to performance benchmarks, forcing local governments to show tangible outcomes.
While the state has made some progress—posting the nation’s largest drop in veteran homelessness last year and holding the state’s homelessness increase to 3% compared to 18% nationally—critics argue these numbers do little to justify a model that expands law enforcement’s role in responding to homelessness.
“We need a housing-first strategy, not handcuffs and bulldozers,” said one local advocate, reacting to the announcement on social media.
The debate over encampment policies comes at a critical juncture for California’s housing crisis. With shelter capacity often lagging behind need and affordable housing in short supply, the ACLU and other advocates warn that policies like Newsom’s could expose cities to litigation and vulnerable people to even greater harm.
Despite the opposition, the Newsom administration is moving quickly to promote the model ordinance as a blueprint for local action. Cities that fail to adopt it—or that struggle to meet measurable benchmarks—may find themselves under increased scrutiny from the state.
In the coming weeks, civil rights groups are expected to continue challenging aspects of the model ordinance while urging local officials to prioritize services, not sweeps. As the fight over how to address homelessness escalates, the fundamental question remains: will California lead with compassion—or control?
