California officials get aggressive on homelessness after Supreme Court ruling

• Some local governments in California are beginning to take action on homelessness following a Supreme Court ruling in June.
• Cities now have the ability to enforce fines and make arrests for public camping and sleeping outdoors. 
• More than 181,000 people were homeless in the state in 2023, accounting for nearly one-third of the country's unhoused population.

Across California,  homeless encampments on city streets, in public parks and beneath highways have become among the most visible symbols of the state's overwhelming challenges with affordable housing. Government officials are now using their newfound power to take on the problem.

In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3, with the conservative majority voting together, that cities are allowed to enforce fines and make arrests for public camping and sleeping outdoors, and to threaten jail time for those who repeatedly refuse to move indoors and accept assistance.

The decision overturned a 2022 ruling by an appeals court, which favored a group of homeless people in the small Oregon city of Grants Pass.

After the decision, California Governor Gavin Newsom applauded the clarity outlined in the ruling and put out an executive order in July pushing local governments to "develop their own policies to address encampments with compassion, care, and urgency."

The order included guidance for cities and counties in a state that had more than 181,000 homeless people in 2023. Newsom said in a statement in June that the court's decision "removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities."

On Tuesday, Newsom signed two new