Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
South OC Cities Sued Over Lack Of Homeless Shelters
()
For months, a federal judge has been warning cities in south Orange County to open more homeless shelters or get sued. On Wednesday, they did.
Lawyers representing homeless plaintiffs and homeless advocacy groups filed a class action suit against Irvine, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. The County of Orange is also a defendant, since the sheriff's department provides law enforcement for much of south OC.
The lawsuit alleges that homeless people have no way to comply with laws prohibiting sleeping and loitering in public places because they have no option of sleeping indoors. The complaint is essentially an expansion of a lawsuit that the same group of lawyersfiled last year against the county and various cities in central and north OC.
The initial lawsuit led Anaheim and Santa Ana to open shelters in recent months. Tustin and Costa Mesa are scheduled to open shelters in the near future. And Placentia and Buena Park have identified potential shelter locations and have been holding public meetings due to the lawsuit.
Support for LAist comes from
In the legal complaint filed late Wednesday against south OC cities, lawyers allege that homeless clients have no choice but to violate anti-camping and anti-loitering laws since there is nowhere for them to sleep indoors. The County of Orange is also named in the suit since county sheriff's deputies enforce local laws in most of the cities named.
The complaint is based largely on a 2018 ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that homeless residents in Boise, Idaho, could not be criminalized for sleeping outdoors if they had no alternative. The judge overseeing an earlier case, Jones v. City of Los Angeles, came to a similar conclusion.
U.S. District Judge David Carter, who presides over the 2018 Orange County case, repeatedly warned south OC cities last year to find shelter space or face litigation. He also warned that homeless people might flock to cities in the southern part of the county as other OC cities build shelters and thereby can enforce anti-camping and anti-trespassing laws.
"People aren't stupid who are homeless, they're going to figure out the beach looks like a pretty nice place," Carter said at a court hearing in August.
Earlier last year, the Orange County Board of Supervisors sought to locate emergency shelters on county-owned land in Irvine, Laguna Niguel and Huntington Beach. But they scrapped the idea after an outcry from neighbors and threats of lawsuits from elected officials in those cities.
Later, a group of south OC mayors suggested turning a library in remote Silverado Canyon -- located in the foothills of Orange County -- into an emergency shelter. But that plan was also scrapped.
Currently, the only emergency shelter for homeless men and women in south Orange County is one in Laguna Beach called the Alternative Sleeping Location. The shelter sleeps 45 people nightly, according to its website.
Support for LAist comes from
The 2019, federally mandated homeless count, which took place in January, found more than 400 homeless people living on the streets in south Orange County, according to Voice of OC. The official results aren't expected to be made public until April.
At least 23 homeless individuals died in south Orange County cities last year, according to a recent report from the Orange County Coroner. Eight of them perished in their cars; another seven died on the streets.
Read the new legal complaint below:
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist