LA County files notice to appeal US judge’s homelessness orders

Los Angeles County filed a notice to appeal a federal judge's injunction ordering it to clear out encampments on skid row and offer shelter to its inhabitants within six months.

The county will also ask for a stay of U.S. District Judge David O. Carter's order pending the appeal, said Skip Miller of Miller Barondess LLP, who is representing the county in the litigation.

"Deciding how to spend taxpayers' money and deliver services to people experiencing homelessness is a legislative, not a judicial, function. The county remains committed to its course of urgent action outside of court addressing this complex societal issue with the city and its other partners," Miller said in a statement issued Wednesday evening. LA Alliance for Human Rights v. City of Los Angeles et al., 2:20-CV-02291 (C.D. Cal., filed March 10, 2020).

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a briefing schedule Thursday. The appellants' opening brief is due May 19. The plaintiff's reply brief is due June 16. LA Alliance for Human Rights et al v. County of Los Angeles et al., 21-55395 (9th Cir. filed April 21, 2021).

Carter's injunction also applied to the city of Los Angeles. A spokesman for City Attorney Mike Feuer declined to say if the city will join the county's request for a stay. "Our office is considering all of its options," said Rob Wilcox.

Carter also issued a clarification order to his preliminary injunction on Thursday, noting, "The directives under 'accountability' and 'city-and-county-wide actions' pertain to all districts in the city and county and are not limited in any way to skid row."

The injunction provision regarding the ceasing of sales and transfers via lease also does not apply to projects that are underway, Carter said Thursday. His order Tuesday required "the cessation of sales, transfers by lease or covenant of the over 14,000 city properties pending the report" that spells out all potentially available land within each district where shelters might be built.

In Tuesday's blistering 110-page order, Carter accused the city and county of allowing "themselves to become paralyzed, failing to muster the moral courage and political will to serve their homeless population."

The homelessness crisis disproportionately impacts people of color, Carter wrote, adding that current city and county policies "perpetuate structural racism, threatening the integrity of Black families in Los Angeles and forcing a disproportionate number of Black families to go unhoused."

A federal judge can employ equitable powers to ensure that the government is compliant with constitutional mandates, Carter wrote in response to the city's and county's contentions that policy decisions like addressing homelessness that impact budgets must be left up to elected officials.