US judge denies bid to open drug treatment center’s thrift stores

A federal judge in San Francisco wasted no time denying a bid by a Sonoma County drug treatment facility to reopen amid stay-at-home orders.

The facility, called Crossing the Jordan, moved for emergency relief on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria declined the motion the same day.

"The plaintiffs have not shown that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their lawsuit, that the balance of equities tips in their favor, or that an injunction is in the public interest," he wrote in a one-page order.

Plaintiff Michael Bryant sued California over the closures of his drug addiction recovery program and six thrift stores that fund it. Like similar lawsuits seeking court rulings to overturn coronavirus-related orders, he alleged constitutional rights violations.

Crossing the Jordan provides drug treatment services and job training to about 100 homeless people in Santa Rosa, according to the complaint.

Sacramento attorney Matthew Becker, representing Bryant, argued his client's businesses should have been allowed to stay open as they are essential. Bryant v. Newsom, 20-CV-03243 (N.D. Cal., filed May 13, 2020).

The county's order provides an exemption for "businesses providing food, shelter and social services and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged or otherwise needy individuals."

But the Santa Rosa Police Department forced Crossing the Jordan to close its thrift stores, which Bryant has claimed shuts down the nonprofit's drug treatment program.

"Plaintiffs' thrift stores have a dual function," Becker wrote. "They provide plaintiffs with the financial resources to operate the sheltering, feeding and counseling."

The complaint also accused Sonoma County health officials of arbitrarily choosing which businesses are exempt from closure.

For example, the county declared on May 1 a toy store was an essential business and allowed it to reopen ahead of other businesses, although toy stores were not exempt from the state's orders, the complaint said.

Becker, who did not respond to requests for comment, declined to have a U.S. magistrate judge consider the case.

-- Winston Cho