SANTA ANA, Calif. — In Department 49 of the Central Justice Center, Commissioner Joseph Dane sentenced several individuals to serve time for unlawful camping.
Across the United States, laws targeting homelessness — including sleeping outside, storing belongings in public spaces and camping — are enforced through citations, fines and jail time.
For example, during an arraignment hearing in this department on March 6, 2026, one accused individual was found to have violated felony probation by camping, sleeping or storing personal property within 20 feet of prohibited entrances or exits.
The accused failed to appear at this hearing and several other hearings since early November 2025. The accused now has a warrant due to these failures to appear.
In another case heard in Department 49, the accused was charged with petty theft — theft of less than $950 — from Pavilions on May 6, 2025.
On March 6, 2026, after being held in custody for nine months, he pleaded guilty to the charge. He also faced charges of unlawful camping and public drinking.
Commissioner Dane sentenced him to 30 days for the theft and 30 days for the unlawful camping and public drinking, to be served concurrently at half-time in the Orange County jail.
This case was assigned two deputy district attorneys, Summer Young and Blake Cushing, but no public defenders.
In yet another case in this department heard on March 6, the accused failed to appear.
However, Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Soares spoke on his behalf.
The accused is living on the streets and is unable to afford bail.
The commissioner set the accused’s trial for March 26 and released him, based on information provided by the public defender, despite his absence.
Examples from the courtroom that day, along with various research findings, indicate that fining and criminalizing homelessness punishes survival activities rather than addressing the underlying causes of homelessness.
A study in San Francisco found that 90% of the roughly 13,000 citations issued to unhoused people each year for “unlawful” camping go unpaid.
The accumulation of these unpaid fines results in arrest warrants, suspension of driver’s licenses and other consequences.
In many states, arrest warrants can also bar unhoused individuals from work and housing, restricting access to drug and mental health treatment programs and homeless shelters.
In late June 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in Johnson v. Grants Pass that criminalizing homelessness — even when no shelter beds are available — does not violate the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
According to Chris Herring, a professor of sociology at UCLA, “the enforcement of anti-homeless laws not only fails to reduce homelessness in public space beyond a few blocks, but it also traps people in homelessness longer and exacerbates health conditions, all while creating numerous barriers to shelter, treatment, jobs and housing.”
Herring and a group of 56 other social scientists filed a brief supporting the respondents in the Johnson v. Grants Pass case.
Another study examining the effects of ordinances such as unlawful camping, public drunkenness and urination found that “this deterrence logic does not hold,” according to Hannah Lebovits, assistant director of the Institute of Urban Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Her report found a 2.2% average increase in unsheltered homelessness in cities implementing these ordinances.
Moreover, studies suggest that criminalizing homelessness is costly to taxpayers.
Jail stays, court processing and policing often cost significantly more than providing shelter and supportive housing.
According to the Human Rights Clinic, one day in jail costs an average of $87, while one bed in a shelter costs $28.
As courts continue to process cases involving unlawful camping and related offenses, advocates and researchers question whether the criminal justice system is the appropriate mechanism to address homelessness.
Some scholars argue that policies focused on housing access, mental health care and social services may be more effective at reducing homelessness than punitive measures that tend to keep individuals trapped in poverty.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
