Jail Not Home: The Tragic Reality of Poverty in Sacramento | Opinion

On the way to work, I always see the same woman underneath the Interstate 80 bridge near the intersection of P street and Alhambra BLVD. The hair on her head is thin, almost balding. Every day, she camps out on the sidewalk. She takes time to sweep the leaves from her area every day. She is not a nuisance to Sacramento. Her life matters to this community.

But since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last June that governments can legally sweep homeless people off the streets without providing them a place to live, it’s become more likely that the lady I see every day could be arrested for the crime of being destitute. She can be arrested for being a nuisance. In the eyes of the law, her life doesn’t matter as much to our community.

Opinion

It’s not only my observation; we’re noticing this trend in Sacramento as well.

Data analyzed by Bee reporter Ariana Lange shows that at least two law enforcement agencies in the region - the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County Regional Park Rangers - have increased arrests of homeless people since the Johnson vs Grants Pass ruling last June. By a 6-3 decision, the justices ruled that local governments can cite homeless people for sleeping outdoors.

Previous rulings in lower courts directed communities to only move homeless people if there was a place to put them. With that protection gone, we see how Sacramento is responding. The floodgates have opened.

At present, 30% of the prisoners in Sacramento County jails consist of individuals who were previously unhoused, as reported by Lange’s research published in The Bee.

This court decision has been abused by governments..

I’ve only lived in Sacramento for a year, and it is clear to me that I joined a community that was fed up with homelessness. I get that. Recently, I described how my e-scooter was almost stolen as I shopped for groceries on Alhambra Blvd, at the edge of East Sacramento.

There is a chance that the man who tried to steal my property is unhoused. I don’t know because he walked away quickly, as I happened upon him. I wrote that the experience caused me to have a change of heart about Proposition 36, approved by state voters last year to increase the penalties for retail crime, among other things.

In the abstract, Prop. 36 seemed draconian to me. But my experience reinforced the idea that people who commit crimes should be punished. The trouble with the Grants Pass ruling is that it has made it easier for people to be punished just for being homeless.

The unhoused are not criminals

Between October 2023 and the end of September 2024, 10,548 bookings involved someone who had been homeless, The Bee reported. The data also show that on average, 838 homeless individuals were held in the jail each month. If each homeless person spent only 24 hours in jail for each arrest, it would cost the county $2,106,752 before any medical expenses.

It was barely a year ago when Governor Gavin Newsom established an executive orde is instructing state agencies to clear homeless encampments across the state.

The state has been diligently working to tackle this crisis in our public spaces," Newsom stated at the time. "There are truly no more excuses. Now, it's everybody's turn to contribute.

Based on information from their website, the county has allocated $5.5 million for adding 50 new scattered-site shelter beds as part of their initiative along the American Parkway. It raises questions about how they can spend such substantial funds to combat homelessness but still end up with a considerable number of homeless individuals being detained in their jails.

Meanwhile, Newsom is bragging t California has the fourth biggest economy globally.

Register for Bee Opinionated

The Sacramento Bee’s opinion team is diligently sorting through the turmoil so you won’t have to. Get our weekly Bee Opinionated newsletter straight to your inbox And we’ll assist you in cutting through the monotony of the news cycle.

Assist those in poverty instead of penalizing them.

The role of the government includes offering support to all members within its society, regardless of whether they are cleaning sidewalks beneath highways or maneuvering carts along streets. Instead of blaming these workers, criticism should be directed towards those who penalize impoverished citizens in what ranks as the fourth biggest economic system globally.

Laws are meant to promote justice, rather than conceal our societal issues or confine those who suffer behind bars out of sight on streets.