“Anywhere But Here”: Understanding the Influence of Antihomeless Coalitions on Street-Level Bureaucratic Discretion and Judicial Nullification

Abstract

A comprehensive understanding of the housing situation in California specifically, and the United States generally, cannot be addressed without close examination of the material conditions of the poor and how the actions of public servants charged with implementing and delivering housing regulations and policy affect them and the law. This research focuses on everyday interactions between street-level bureaucrats and homeless residents to examine how and why discretion—the legal authority of government officials to enforce the law—is exercised. This paper argues that factors involved in triggering enforcement and criminalization are highly influenced by local political dynamics which are shown to play a role in the discretionary decision-making process of those on the frontlines of homelessness in Orange County, California, and ultimately nullifying important precedent aimed at protecting the constitutional rights of the unhoused.