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LA seeks to block contempt-of-court hearing in city's homelessness settlement with downtown group
A view of L.A. City Hall in downtown.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Topline:
Los Angeles is seeking to block a federal court hearing in which a judge will consider holding the city in contempt of court. The matter stems from a long-running legal settlement over the city's response to the region’s homelessness crisis.
About the emergency request: A day after the judge scheduled the hearing in U.S. District Court, the city filed a request with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to block it from happening. The contempt hearing is currently scheduled to begin Wednesday.
City authorities are also asking the appeals court to press pause on a court order appointing a monitor in the case to make sure the city stays on track with the settlement. They argue that the lower court has appointed “an unapproved, unelected and unchecked monitor” and handed “him a blank check to interfere with the democratic process.”
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Why now: U.S. District Judge David O. Carter scheduled a hearing for next week after meeting in court with representatives from the city and a group of downtown business and property owners known as the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights.
The meeting was the latest in a series of hearings the judge set to gauge the city’s progress in a settlement over the city’s response to the homelessness crisis.
Carter set the contempt hearing for Wednesday, giving city officials time to produce documents the court has requested and for both sides to subpoena witnesses, potentially including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.
How we got here: At the hearing this week, Carter pointed to several delays attributed to city authorities. For example, the monitor, Daniel Garrie, said he had trouble setting up interviews with city employees.
Garrie reported in court documents that he was told to refer all requests to the city’s attorneys, which he said “slowed progress.”
The judge warned that failure to comply with his orders could “result in sanctions” for the city.
What the attorneys say: Elizabeth Mitchell, lead attorney for L.A. Alliance, told LAist the court made clear there had been a lack of transparency from L.A. officials.
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“I think the city has made it a pattern and practice of obfuscating, delaying, avoiding accountability and really fulfilling its obligations,” Mitchell said after the hearing. “They're spending a tremendous amount of effort and money to avoid their obligations.”
Bradley Hamburger, an attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the law firm representing the city, declined LAist’s request for comment after the hearing.
What's next: The city is asking the 9th Circuit to step in by Monday. The contempt hearing is set to start Wednesday.
Read on … for more about how we got here.
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This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
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