A Sacramento judge wrote an appeal to Mayor Darrell Steinberg this week, asking police to do something about the public sex acts, physical and verbal assaults, open fires, rampant urination and defecation, and nudity that’s apparently on display in front of his courthouse daily.
Judge Michael Bowman said in the letter that the growing number of homeless people in downtown Sacramento impedes justice: “When coming to court is a trial itself for victims, witnesses or even jurors — access to justice is threatened.”
On behalf of the Court, the thousands of people who use our services and our 416 downtown employees, I respectfully request the Sacramento Police Department increase its presence near our downtown court locations, jury and employee parking lots, and that code violations be enforced. More importantly, it is my hope that the burgeoning unsheltered population surrounding the Court be connected with the services and support they so desperately need.
California has the largest homeless population in the country, and although the state spends millions on initiatives to address the problem, its efforts have had limited effect. The best Steinberg has done so far to address Sacramento’s crisis is to accommodate the homeless with camper trailers and sleeping sites, which hasn’t helped much. The city also places boulders under freeways to prevent homeless camps from forming, but they often relocate to adjacent parking lots. Downtown Sacramento is now virtually uninhabitable for all but the rich unless you have proper defense, which you probably don’t because of the state’s restrictive gun laws, and definitely won’t in the future if Governor Gavin Newsom gets his wish to further limit gun rights.
Newsom spent America’s birthday campaigning for Joe Biden in Iowa, but he emailed home on July 4 to remind California what a beacon of freedom it is:
More than any people, in any place, California has bridged the historic expanse between freedom for some, and freedom for all. Freedom is our essence, our brand name — the abiding idea that right here, anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything.
Anything — especially in front of a courthouse!