Opinion: The Supreme Court could reset homelessness policy in California

Good morning. I’m Kerry Cavanaugh, assistant editorial page editor, and it is Wednesday, April 24. Let’s look at the week in Opinion so far.

There is no shortage of opinions on how to solve homelessness. Just ask our letter writers, who put the blame for the crisis on political and institutional incompetence, economic equality, lack of community support, an unjust and undersupplied housing market, and the failure to enforce laws that prohibit large encampments.

That last one — enforcement of anti-camping laws — is at the heart of the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday over whether the city of Grants Pass in Oregon violated the Constitution by fining or arresting people who sleep on the street when they have no place else to go. The court’s decision could be far-reaching if justices gives Grants Pass the right to criminalize homelessness. That would take away any incentive or responsibility cities now have to address the root causes of homelessness in their communities, The Times editorial board writes:

“If the court allows Grants Pass to enforce the ordinance, it will allow any city tired of doing the heavy lifting of providing housing and services to resume fining or jailing homeless people in an effort — whether they say it out loud like Grants Pass officials did — to, once again, shoo homeless people from one block to another, one neighborhood to another, one city to another.”

It’s also possible, as news columnist Anita Chabria notes, that the case could turn out to be a big nothing. Not only are there legal reasons why the decision might have little bearing on California’s homelessness policies, she writes; the court could also decide the case is now moot because of an Oregon law overruling Grants Pass’ onerous ordinance. A ruling in the case is expected in June.

You don’t need to own an iPhone for the government lawsuit against Apple to benefit you. The federal government has been going after U.S.-based tech giants for monopolizing their markets and stifling competition. The latest target is Apple and its “technological ecosystem,” where users can communicate, play, watch, listen and buy, explains Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School. “Ultimately, the case invites the federal courts to answer a more fundamental question raised by today’s economy: Should consumers have more freedom to choose their digital environments and move between fishbowls? The answer should be yes.”

Sports gambling is exploding, and it’ll be even worse than you think. Addiction, greed, corruption and crime: “It’s not just the personal and societal devastation from out-of-control gambling that we need to fear. The sports industry is not prepared to navigate a world of legalized betting,” columnist LZ Granderson writes.

Spring is a real thing in L.A., if you go to the mountains. So many Southern Californians experience the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains only as onlookers from the urban flatlands, without ever seeing the greener, snowier northern slopes, letters editor Paul Thornton writes. “I know this, because almost every time I drive with someone on the majestic Angeles Crest Highway or all the way up Mt. Baldy Road — from sea-level aridity to swimming holes, waterfalls and snow higher up — I hear mutterings of ‘I had no idea.’”

Google’s hardball tactics against California news outlets show why it should be regulated. The Internet behemoth recently announced that it would remove links to California news websites from search results as a “test” of what it could do if lawmakers pass a law requiring tech companies to share ad revenue with the journalists who produce much of the content on their platforms. “Google’s power flex demonstrates how much this one corporation controls access to information,” writes The Times editorial board. “If lawmakers weren’t concerned about that before, they should be now.”

More from this week in opinion

From our columnists

• Robin Abcarian: Here’s how antiabortion absolutists plan to drag California back to the 19th century
• Jackie Calmes: Hapless House Republicans weaponized impeachment. It backfired

From the op-ed desk

• The immigration system can bend toward justice. One Orange County man’s case shows how
• How California’s ‘math wars’ are hurting Black and Latino students

From the editorial board

• Social media companies refuse to safeguard kids. It’s up to lawmakers now
• Mississippi has heroes who fought for democracy. Why is it marking Confederate Heritage Month?

Letters to the editor

• Opposing views on USC’s decision to cancel valedictorian’s speech
• I helped write UCLA’s high school data science course. This is what our critics miss
• Why supporting Trump makes sense to evangelicals