Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir and founder of the Cicero Institute, has been instrumental in pushing policies that criminalize homelessness through laws banning camping or sleeping in public. According to a study, these ordinances have not led to a decrease in homelessness rates in 100 US cities. The Cicero Institute's lobbying efforts have contributed to the passing of such laws in 16 states and the recent Supreme Court decision allowing such bans. Dr. Margot Kushel argues that this approach is counterproductive, as people struggling with homelessness are desperate for treatment but lack access due to Medicaid cuts under Trump.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-24,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, is pushing for policies that fine and arrest people for sleeping in public as a solution to homelessness. He argues that this approach will push those in need into mental health treatment. However, data suggests that such ordinances have not led to a decrease in the number of homeless individuals. A study of 100 US cities found no correlation between fining people for sleeping in public and reducing homelessness. Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco, disagrees with Lonsdale's approach, calling it "absurd" to think that fines will get people into treatment. The policies are part of a broader initiative by the Trump administration to address homelessness through incarceration rather than providing housing.
Written for “Homeless People Being Policed” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but none of the 2 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 2098: no verified evidence · logged 2026-08-27
Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of the weapons-tech company Palantir, is also a major force behind the Trump administration’s policy of pushing unhoused people toward incarceration.
asserted
Lonsdale → push → incarceration
Lonsdale, a longtime critic of “housing first” policy—which proposes that homelessness be solved by supplying those in need of housing with somewhere to live—argues that fining and arresting people for sleeping in public will push them into mental health treatment.
asserted
fining → propose → treatment
“We’ve made it easier to civilly commit those who are mentally ill and need treatment,” Lonsdale wrote in the New York Post in 2023.
asserted
Lonsdale → make → 2023
“With non-ideological policies rooted in incentives, accountability, and competence, we will show a better way and build a brighter future for our urban centers.
asserted
we → root → centers
But there is data to suggest this might not be the right approach.
uncertain
this → be → ?
One study of homelessness-criminalization measures in 100 US cities found that the ordinances did not lead to a decrease in the number of people counted as homeless.
asserted
ordinances → find → people
“It’s absurd to think that fining people will get them into treatment,” Dr. Margot Kushel, a physician who directs the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco, told the New York Times.
asserted
who → ’ → Times
“Many people are desperate for treatment and can’t get it.”
asserted
people → get → it
And since Trump cut Medicaid, which finances most of the healthcare options available to unhoused people, “it’s hard not to see the cynicism in this,” she said.
asserted
she → cut → this
The Cicero Institute, a lobbying group he founded eight years ago, has been instrumental in passing laws criminalizing camping or sleeping in public in 16 states, according to the New York Times.
uncertain
he → found → Times
In total, the think tank has worked to pass 241 pieces of legislation in the past 5 years, on issues ranging from education to healthcare.
asserted
tank → work → healthcare
Its c4 arm, Cicero Action, has engaged in lobbying related to military spending and defense contracts, according to the National Homelessness Law Institute.
uncertain
arm → engage → Institute
But time and again, Lonsdale and Cicero return to their push to eliminate unhoused people from public life.
asserted
Lonsdale → return → life
That push has now gone federal.
asserted
push → go → ?
In 2024, in a Supreme Court decision called Grants Pass, the court found that camping bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, even if the only available alternative to camping is incarceration of the unhoused.
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alternative → call → unhoused
And Trump has now issued an executive order that closely mirrors the Circero Institute’s policies.
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that → issue → policies
Lonsdale’s allies see him as a man of principle.
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allies → see → principle
“In some ways he is like a 16th-century knight who was dropped into present day,” Zac Bookman, who co-founded the government database company OpenGov with Lonsdale, told the Washington Post.
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who → drop → Post
“There’s this code of honor and duty that he is trying to advance.”
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he → ’ → that
Advocates for unhoused people take a less rosy view, and argue that Lonsdale is putting the 700,000 unsheltered people in the US in danger.
asserted
Lonsdale → take → danger
“I just can’t imagine having that much wealth and power and using it to kick people when they are down instead of lifting them up,” Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center, told the Post.
asserted
Rabinowitz → imagine → Post
NHLC has sued the Trump administration over its Lonsdale-inspired approach to homelessness.
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NHLC → sue → homelessness
“I don’t actually think you can separate [Trump’s homelessness policy] from Cicero,” Rabinowitz said.
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Rabinowitz → think → Cicero
“I think they’re so embedded in this administration, when you look at Trump’s executive order or the HUD funding, it is not a coincidence that it is parroting Cicero.”
asserted
it → think → Cicero
