Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/brooke-weitzman/)
Santa Ana, Laguna Beach, and Bellflower agreed to provide specific amounts of shelter for homeless people and to not enforce anti-camping laws against them unless they’re refusing available beds that are appropriate for their disabilities.
Judge Percy Anderson removed four of the five cities being sued in the closely-watched case, and rejected the existing legal arguments against the fifth. He left open the possibility of the case being re-filed as a series of separate lawsuits against cities.
“This is a game-changer,” Judge David O. Carter told the courtroom Tuesday before signing off on the settlement, which the court can enforce for the next three years.
It was U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson’s first ruling in a closely-watched civil rights lawsuit against south OC cities.
South county cities are entitled to litigate before a judge “whose impartiality neither the parties nor the public have a reasonable basis to question,” the ruling states.
San Clemente is moving its homeless population to a city-owned lot Friday, but homeless rights attorney Carol Sobel warns the move is unconstitutional.
Smaller counties than OC have asked for and received tens of millions more in state and federal funds for preventative health and housing programs that studies have shown save taxpayer dollars overall, help homeless people get off the streets, and save lives.
Five South Orange County cities will head to Federal court after a lawsuit filed by attorneys alleged dumping of homeless people and blamed the region’s lack of shelters.
Telecare Corp. has repeatedly declined to comment on complaints it failed to provide health treatment it was supposed to, didn’t clean dirty rooms at a facility it was overseeing, and unnecessarily escalated a situation with a patient into a physical confrontation.
Roughly 1,300 people are sleeping in homeless shelters throughout Orange County, with all big shelters located in north and central Orange County in cities like Santa Ana and Anaheim, according to unofficial numbers provided to Voice of OC.