‘People Are Dying’: Gavin Newsom Blasts Court Decision Barring City From Enforcing Homeless Ordinances

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted a court decision barring San Francisco from enforcing its homeless ordinances Tuesday, calling it “preposterous” and “inhumane,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported. 

The injunction, issued by United States District Court Chief Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu in December 2022, brought the city’s efforts to clear tent encampments in the city to a halt. The city appealed the injunction in January to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, and now Democratic Mayor London Breed, as well as Newsom, are demanding the injunction be overturned.

“People are moving out of the cities. Businesses are shutting down. People are dying of overdoses because of this,” Newsom told the Chronicle.

The San Francisco city government reported in 2022 that nearly 4,400 people lived on the streets of the city. Businesses have been fleeing California in large numbers, with many firms such as Nordstrom, Whole Foods and T-Mobile leaving downtown San Francisco due to rampant theft.

“It’s preposterous, and it’s inhumane,” Newsom told the Chronicle.

Newsom is frustrated with an injunction in Sacramento that prevents officials from clearing homeless people outside his office, according to the Chronicle. “There are people literally outside my office here in Sacramento that we cannot legally help,” Newsom told the Chronicle.

“These are insane rulings,” Newsom told the Chronicle.

Other Democrats around California are rallying against the injunctions as well.

Democrats and homelessness advocates shouted at each other outside a hearing on the injunction Aug. 23 at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, according to the Chronicle. Breed spoke outside the courthouse, demanding the court overturn the injunction.

“We are prepared through our city attorney to do whatever it takes to make sure we are able to do our jobs. It is not humane to let people live on our streets in tents, use drugs,” Breed said.

Newsom and Breed did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.