Pasadena City Council to weigh Supreme Court decision on homelessness

The Pasadena City Council will meet Monday to discuss the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling affecting homelessness enforcement.

In June, the high court ruled in Grants Pass v. Johnson that homeless individuals camping on public properties can be issued a citation, even if there are no alternative housing options available.

Justices sided 6-3 with Grants Pass, a city in Oregon with a population of just under 40,000 people, after officials there asked for a review of a lower court’s decision blocking the enforcement of a public camping ordinance on the grounds of it being considered cruel and unusual punishment.

The ruling found that enforcing “generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property” did not violate the Eighth Amendment.

The SCOTUS decision affects hundreds of thousands of Americans who don’t have a permanent place to live, including more than 75,000 in Los Angeles County , and now Pasadena officials are worried that the change in federal law could have negative consequences on the progress they have made on combating homelessness in their city.

In an interview with the San Gabriel Valley Tribune , Pasadena Director of Housing William Huang stated that the city began increasing their focus on dismantling encampments over a decade ago.

As of 2024, there are 556 individuals experiencing homelessness in Pasadena, according to the Pasadena Homeless Count , down from a high of 677 in 2018.

“In around 2010, 2011, the city really started to ramp up homeless outreach to reach out to folks who are unhoused who wouldn’t typically come in for services,” Huang told the Tribune. “So, we focused very much on reaching out, going out to the vulnerable population, to establish relationships with them, to get them to feel comfortable accepting services, and ultimately accepting either short-term housing or long-term housing.”

Less than a month after the ruling, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order allowing state officials to begin dismantling encampments and threatened to withhold funding if cities did not comply. One local city, Long Beach, started the cleanup process last month.

Monday’s Pasadena City Council meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, located at 100 N. Garfield Ave.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.