Judge Orders Los Angeles To Provide Housing To Skid Row’s Entire Homeless Population

[hauntedheadnc]

Judge Orders Los Angeles To Provide Housing To Skid Row’s Entire Homeless Population
“This ever-worsening public health and safety emergency demands immediate, life-saving action,” a federal judge said Tuesday.
By Nina Golgowski for huffingtonpost.com

The entire homeless population living within downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row neighborhood must be provided housing by Oct. 18, a federal judge ordered Tuesday, citing a need for “immediate, life-saving action” following years of negligence, racism and financial corruption by local officials.

“This ever-worsening public health and safety emergency demands immediate, life-saving action. The City and County of Los Angeles have shown themselves to be unable or unwilling to devise effective solutions to L.A.’s homelessness crisis,” U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in a 110-page brief.

The order came in response to a lawsuit brought by the LA Alliance for Human Rights. The group of downtown businesses and residents had sued local government officials over their handling of the area’s expanding homelessness crisis, which they said has resulted in an average of three deaths per day.

While accusing government officials of dragging their feet on taking proper action, Carter mandated that Los Angeles city and county offer shelter or housing to all single women and accompanied children within 90 days. Officials also have 120 days to provide accommodations for all families and 180 days for the general population.

Carter further ordered Los Angeles county and city officials to identify land or properties by October that may be developed for 455,000 new units of housing, including 185,000 units for lower-income tenants. A special monitor, whom the city and county will pay for, should also assist in and resolve any disputes. $1 billion will also be placed in an escrow account to fund the operations.

At last count, in January 2020, more than 4,662 unhoused people were determined to be living in Skid Row. About 2,500 were residing in large shelters and 2,093 were living on the streets, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported.

[craigs]

Put out the word across the nation: if you're experiencing homelessness then get yourself to Los Angeles, where local government will be legally required to house you in a way that your current state and local governments will never be required to do.

[plutonicpanda]

Originally Posted by craigs

Put out the word across the nation: if you're experiencing homelessness then get yourself to Los Angeles, where local government will be legally required to house you in a way that your current state and local governments will never be required to do.

That's what I am concerned about. LA seems to be doing nothing but waiting for a court order to hide behind anytime anyone criticizes a proposal from the city on this. They can say "we have a court order we have to." What happens to those who refuse shelter?

What are the consequences for not meeting this deadline?This order makes no sense and I feel like it will discredit the courts as it will be nearly impossible to meet and the courts won't be able to do anything about it.

[sopas ej]

A day after this story broke, it's already being appealed:

Los Angeles County to appeal federal judge’s order to shelter all unhoused Skid Row residents by October

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County will appeal a federal judge’s order requiring the city of Los Angeles and the county to shelter all unhoused residents of Skid Row within 180 days and audit any spending related to the homeless crisis.

The county filed a notice of appeal on Wednesday and will ask for the judge’s order to be suspended, attorney Skip Miller, who represents the county, said in a statement.

“Deciding how to spend taxpayers’ money and deliver services to people experiencing homelessness is a legislative, not a judicial, function,” Miller said.

The order was issued Tuesday by Judge David O. Carter, who is presiding over a lawsuit by a group of business owners, residents and community leaders. It accuses the city and county of failing to comprehensively address the homelessness problem.

Carter’s order came a day after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to spend nearly $1 billion to get people off the streets.

Carter ordered the $1 billion placed in escrow, with a spending plan “accounted for and reported to the Court within seven days.”

The order also requires an audit of all public money spent in recent years to combat homelessness.

Link: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/lo...er-01619108829

[ardecila]

Well, yeah. You can't build 4500 apartments anywhere in Southern California between now and October. It would violate CEQA and local zoning, not to mention the fact that the state/city doesn't have the funds and there is a huge shortage of building materials.

I suppose you could retrofit some shipping containers, but there's also a shortage of those. Or they could let everybody out of LA County Jail and move the homeless in there.

[Fresh]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Well, yeah. You can't build 4500 apartments anywhere in Southern California between now and October. It would violate CEQA and local zoning, not to mention the fact that the state/city doesn't have the funds and there is a huge shortage of building materials.

I suppose you could retrofit some shipping containers, but there's also a shortage of those. Or they could let everybody out of LA County Jail and move the homeless in there.

Am I reading this wrong or is it 455 THOUSAND

Carter further ordered Los Angeles county and city officials to identify land or properties by October that may be developed for 455,000 new units of housing, including 185,000 units for lower-income tenants

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Fresh

Am I reading this wrong or is it 455 THOUSAND

Does a court/judge have the authority to order a government to build housing? That seems insane

[the urban politician]

^ That judge obviously thinks he can

I realize that you have to be reasonably intelligent to go to law school and to become a judge but.....come on. That is completely a stupid and unfounded order.

Is there a California law that this is based out of, or is he just pulling this out of his ass?

[IMBY]

Given it costs taxpayers, on a national average, $42.5k a year to have one homeless person on the streets............................................................

When I get on the European forums, I see photo's of lots of new social housing complexes in different parts of Europe. Where are they here?

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ That judge obviously thinks he can

I realize that you have to be reasonably intelligent to go to law school and to become a judge but.....come on. That is completely a stupid and unfounded order.

Is there a California law that this is based out of, or is he just pulling this out of his ass?

On one hand yes. On the other hand, LA was supposed to do this years ago.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ That judge obviously thinks he can

I realize that you have to be reasonably intelligent to go to law school and to become a judge but.....come on. That is completely a stupid and unfounded order.

Is there a California law that this is based out of, or is he just pulling this out of his ass?

It was a federal lawsuit.

[muertecaza]

The ruling has a table of contents, and starts with this:

In the ebb of afternoon sunlight, young Americans looked at their former compatriots as adversaries as they advanced towards them. Young teenagers carried battle flags to rally upon in the chaos that would soon ensue. There is nothing free about freedom. It is borne from immense pain, suffering, and sacrifice. Our country has struggled since the Emancipation Proclamation to right the evil of slavery. One hundred and fifty-eight years ago, at the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln made a short and profound speech, exemplifying an unshakable moral commitment to end the abomination of slavery despite the terrible sacrifice of life

and basically purports to use disproportionate impact of homeless on black Angelenos to justify the sweeping ruling.

The laws the judge uses to justify the ruling are the equal protection and due process clauses of the US Constitution's 14th amendment, including the claim that homelessness is a state-created harm, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also cites a California state law, which states that "Every county and every city and county shall relieve and support all incompetent, poor, indigent persons, and those incapacitated by age, disease, or accident, lawfully resident therein, when such persons are not supported and relieved by their relatives or friends, by their own means, or by state hospitals or other state or private institutions."

I don't know the whole history of the political situation regarding this issue, but the ruling orders a $1b fund created and escrowed within 7 days, a sweeping audit of related city programs, a moratorium on the sale of ALL city property, a report from the mayor as to why he has not declared a state of emergency surrounding homelessness, in addition to the headline order of housing everyone by October. Apparently he didn't even have a hearing before the ruling.

Full order here: https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/4.../injuction.pdf

On the one hand I'm pretty (legally) conservative and dislike this type of judging. On the other hand, again I don't know all the history of this issue in LA, but it almost read like the judge is going purporsefully over the top to force action.

[the urban politician]

^ The problem with overly activists judges is that they can pretty much contort and twist their shitty judgements to comply with any law or Constitutional statute.

But when you reach the level of absurdity as "poverty is caused by Government and I hereby ordain that Government fix it" you aren't going to achieve anything practical, you're just sending a message (ie 'virtue signaling')

[destroycreate]

Love a good sweep. It's gotten way out of hand here. Time to take a hardline approach.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Love a good sweep. It's gotten way out of hand here. Time to take a hardline approach.

How is that a "hardline" approach?

Ordering a city to build housing? Like I said, simply mandating something that is absurd and uneconomical doesn't make it so.

That's why judges need to tread carefully, or else they make themselves look like clowns, sort of like this judge....

[destroycreate]

Idk all I know is I want the blight and filth gone. Normalize clean city streets.

[James Bond Agent 007]

That would be an impossible task. There's just too many of them. A lot of them probably don't even want to live in some government enforced housing:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0442...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0445...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0453...7i16384!8i8192

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

That would be an impossible task. There's just too many of them. A lot of them probably don't even want to live in some government enforced housing:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0442...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0445...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0453...7i16384!8i8192

And are those areas dangerous or they don’t interact with passbyers and dwellers?

I hear Downtown LA population is booming. Are they stopping people move in or the area will keep growing regardless?

[The North One]

450,000 housing units??! I'll believe it when I see it.

But good, if you're going to sweep people off the streets than you have an obligation to provide permanent housing for those people. Conversely if you are being provided housing then you have no right to squat in public places and make cities look like hell.

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by yuriandrade

And are those areas dangerous or they don’t interact with passbyers and dwellers?

I hear Downtown LA population is booming. Are they stopping people move in or the area will keep growing regardless?

This guy has a good series of videos that are useful to see what it's like on the street. . . LA is absolutely filthy and something has to be done. . . not sure this is going to be the solution. . .

• Video Link

. . .