San Francisco sued over homeless camp sweeps
Goal is to force city to build affordable homes
SAN FRANCISCO – Homeless people and their advocates sued the city of San Francisco on Tuesday, demanding that it stop harassing and destroying the belongings of people living on the streets with nowhere to go, and with the goal of forcing the city to spend billions of dollars on affordable homes that will keep residents housed.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and others filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of the Coalition on Homelessness and seven individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Defendants include the city, several city departments and Mayor London Breed.
The complaint says San Francisco “presents the image of a caring municipality” with a plan to address homelessness, but decades of inaction on affordable housing have forced thousands to use tents and vehicles as shelter. An annual survey found 7,754 homeless people in 2022 with nearly 60% living unsheltered.
Not only has the city failed to construct affordable housing, according to the complaint, but the city uses heavyhanded tactics to get homeless people to move, threatening to arrest or actually arresting people, and taking people’s belongings in early morning encampment sweeps in which shelter is not offered, as required by law.
In addition to stopping illegal practices, “we need to change the conversation around what is causing homelessness
here and get to proven solutions,” said Zal K. Shroff, senior attorney with the lawyers’ committee.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and former mayor of San Francisco, has embraced clearing tent encampments, saying it is neither compassionate nor safe to allow people to live outdoors.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in 2018 that it’s unconstitutional to cite or arrest people for sleeping in public when there is no shelter available.
In statements, both the mayor’s office and the city attorney’s office declined to comment but said San Francisco is focused on expanding temporary shelter and providing more permanent housing options. Breed’s office said the city has added nearly 3,000 permanent supportive housing units since 2020.
“Once we are served with the lawsuit, we will review the complaint and respond in court,” said Jen Kwart, spokesperson for the office of City Attorney David Chiu.
Shroff acknowledged the court can’t order San Francisco to build affordable housing, but the group hopes the lawsuit will push city leaders in that direction.
The lawsuit asks the court to order the city to stop punishing homeless people for sleeping and living on public property until it has sufficient shelter to offer.
San Francisco has about 3,500 shelter beds, the mayor’s office said.
The lawsuit estimates San Francisco would need to build nearly 6,700 new affordable units, at an estimated cost of $4.8 billion, to house every person currently unhoused in San Francisco.