The Ninth Circuit: Enemy of Cities Trying to Shut Down Homeless Camps

The Ninth Circuit, alone among federal appeals courts, has made it nearly impossible for states and cities in the West to enforce their public nuisance laws.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on June 12, 2017. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Commentary

Nearly half of America’s homeless population—some 42 percent—lives in nine Western states stretching from Alaska and Montana to Arizona and Hawaii. The vast majority of them—30 percent of America’s homeless—live in California alone, even though the state accounts for just 12 percent of the general population of the United States.