Federal judge tells Orange County cities to house homeless

SANTA ANA -- Citing a recent 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, a federal judge on Friday directed Orange County cities to provide adequate homeless shelters soon or face litigation.

"There are various cities who may have felt up to this point that there was no jurisdiction of the court, or thought they could look away," U.S. District Judge David O. Carter told a courtroom filled with city and county attorneys, managers and elected leaders.

The 9th Circuit's decision in an Idaho homeless case, issued Sept. 4, prompted Carter to assert the authority to halt cities from enforcing anti-homeless ordinances. The judge said he'll no longer issue continuances in the two civil rights lawsuits about Orange County's treatment of homeless people and instead wants fast settlements.

"Otherwise, we're going forward with litigation," Carter said.

Carter is working with a special master, JAMS mediator and retired Superior Court Judge James L. Smith, as he oversees settlement negotiations in the two lawsuits. Representatives from the defendant cities updated him on their progress Friday after Carter complained the talks were "moving at a molasses pace."

"The city understands we cannot wait. We must move," said Ken Gominsky. a commander with the Santa Ana Police Department who announced plans with Orange County for an "up to" 600-bed shelter to open within two years, and a 200-bed shelter in the interim..

The 2-1 9th Circuit ruling affirmed in part and reversed in part U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush's 2015 summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by six homeless people in Boise, Idaho, who argued their citations for violating camping and disorderly conduct ordinances amounted to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

Judge Marsha S. Berzon wrote the opinion, and Judge Paul J. Watford concurred. Judge John B. Owens concurred and dissented in part, arguing injunctive relief was unwarranted. Martin et al., v. City of Boise, 2018 DJDAR 8871 (9th Cir., filed Sept. 4, 2018).

The opinion cites Jones v. Los Angeles, a 2006 9th Circuit decision in a Los Angeles homeless case that was vacated because of a settlement but has been cited by Carter in the current proceedings.

"An ordinance violates the Eighth Amendment insofar as it imposes criminal sanctions against homeless individuals for sleeping outdoors, on public property, when no alternative shelter is available to them," Berzon wrote.

Carter said he anticipated the ruling but was surprised by its scope.

"I expected that Jones would be the law of the land, (but) I didn't expect the breadth of the decision that was handed down," Carter said.

Carter cited Jones when he issued a temporary restraining order in February that prohibited Orange County, the cities of Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Orange from enforcing "any infraction or misdemeanor anti-loitering, trespassing or camping ordinances or statutes" at a large homeless camp at the Santa Ana River in Anaheim.

The order was granted in response to a motion filed by Santa Monica attorney Carol A. Sobel and Brooke A. Weitzman of Elder Law and Disability Rights Center in Irvine.

The order is no longer in effect because all homeless people have been relocated from the riverbed through settlement negotiations overseen by Carter.

The negotiations also have included the clearing of a homeless camp that had been growing for years in a plaza near the superior court's Central Justice Center and had prompted complaints from potential jurors.

Plaintiff's attorneys filed an amended complaint in July. Orange County Catholic Worker v. Orange County et al., 18-CV00155 (C.D. Cal., filed Jan. 29, 2018).

Carter's proceedings have included courtroom appearances by top Orange County politicians as well as status conferences at the riverbed homeless camp, nighttime court sessions and Saturday hearings.

The judge has frequently visited with people who lived there as he led attorneys on miles-long walks, with U.S. marshals providing security, and he now visits the newly-opened shelters and health care facilities.