Los Angeles mayor furious at order from Gavin Newsom to clear homeless encampments in California after Supreme Court ruling

A political rift has opened up between California Democrats over homelessness after a U.S Supreme Court ruling that gave local governments more power to clean up encampments.

While many have praised the ruling, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass excoriated the decision and is now refusing an executive order from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to clean up the cities.

'The criminalization of homelessness and poverty is dangerous.'

“We have now no excuse with the Supreme Court decision. This executive order is about pushing that paradigm further and getting the sense of urgency that’s required of local government to do their job," read a statement from Newsom about a month after the ruling.

Prior to the ruling, cities had to provide alternate sleeping arrangements for homeless people before they were allowed to shut down tent cities and encampments. The Supreme Court decided in June along partisan lines that cities could decide who could sleep in public spaces without having to provide alternatives.

While Newsom's order isn't mandatory, if cities refuse, they may put money they receive from the state government at risk. It also calls on local officials to give 48-hour notice ahead of any encampment clean-up and to provide storage for personal belongings for 60 days afterward.

Bass made it clear that she will not follow the order.

“I do not believe that it is ultimately a solution to homelessness,” she said. “How are they supposed to pay for their ticket, and what happens when they don’t pay? Does it go into a warrant and give us an excuse to incarcerate somebody?”

Some members on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed with Bass.

“I want to be crystal clear,” said board chairwoman Lindsey Horvath. “The criminalization of homelessness and poverty is dangerous. It does not work, and it will not stand in Los Angeles County.”

Another influential Democrat on Newsom's side is San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who is up for re-election.

“We have had to move from a compassionate city to a city of accountability,” she said about recent encampment sweeps. “And I have been leading the efforts to ensure we are addressing this issue differently than we have before.”

California Republicans meanwhile criticized Newsom for what they called a public relations stunt.

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