Governor signs housing and prison bills likely to face litigation

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a string of bills over the past three days that could be targets for litigation or address issues already making their way through state and federal courts.

On Monday, Newsom signed 16 bills relating to housing. These range from bills designed to help victims of violent crime find safe housing to new eviction protections to several measures that change local planning and zoning processes.

One of the most likely targets for litigation may be SB 1079, a law designed to prevent large corporations from buying up large swaths of housing, as happened in some areas in the wake of the 2007 financial crisis. The law would prohibit bundling several properties into one sale, require notification to tenants who might want to buy a property, and authorize fines for owners who leave properties vacan.

A large coalition of business and real estate associations opposed the bill. They claimed it contains provisions that could harm lenders and interfere with lawful contracts.

"SB 1079 may ... be both inconsistent with contract law and unconstitutional by arbitrarily limiting willing parties from entering into a lawful contract," the National Rental Home Council said in an opposition letter.

On Saturday, Newsom approved SB 132, which will require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to house transgender or intersex inmates according to the gender they identify with. This has been a key goal for advocates for transgendered prisoners, who say the current system of housing inmates by their birth gender has made them vulnerable to sexual assault.

Most Republican lawmakers voted against the bill, while some Democrats abstained. The law could also face suits trying to overturn it.

The new policy could affect a lawsuit against the Department of Corrections. C. Jay Smith, a transgendered woman inmate housed in men's prisons in California for 25 years, filed a complaint in June seeking to force San Quentin State Prison to enact policies she said would protect her. The complaint filed by attorneys with Medina Orthwein LLP in Oakland seeks to force thee prison to abide by guidelines under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a 2003 federal law. Smith v. Diaz, 4:20-cv-04335-KAW (N.D. Cal., filed June 29, 2020).

"Ms. Smith has experienced relentless gender-based harassment and discrimination perpetuated by CDCR staff and other incarcerated people because she is transgender," stated the complaint signed by founding partner Jennifer Orthwein. "Ms. Smith has also been the victim of rape, physical assault, retaliation and long periods of isolation."

In another case, a federal judge ordered the Illinois Department of Corrections last year to change its policies around transgendered inmates, including housing prisoners solely based on birth gender. In February, a female inmate who said one of the winning plaintiffs in that case raped her in a women's prison filed a Jane Doe lawsuit accusing prison officials of a cover-up. Attorneys for the transgender inmate have argued the rape never happened.

"SB 132 is life-saving legislation that will protect trans people in prison, particularly trans women who are subject to high levels of assault and harassment in men's facilities," said the bill's author, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in an emailed statement.

On Sunday, Newsom signed a bill that would give the state more power over private immigration lockups within the state. AB 3228 would force these facilities to agree to standards of care in their contracts and create a right of action for detainees.

The new law comes as the state, federal government and a private prison company litigate multiple cases around SB 29, a 2017 law barring local governments from renewing contracts with private prison companies to operate in the state.

AB 3228's author, Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, included a severability clause. Legislators often write these into bills when they expect legal challenges. Bonta is a former San Francisco deputy city attorney.