Lawsuit filed against Riverbed evictions

A lawsuit is being filed against the County challenging their actions against the homeless community in the Santa Ana Riverbed. The cities of Anaheim, Orange and Costa Mesa have also been named in the action.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants’ actions violated the constitutional rights of those living on the Riverbed and are contrary to several recent decisions by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. Those decisions found that authorities could not criminalize people camping or sleeping on the sidewalk when there is a lack of shelter.

Last week Orange County began the process of closing the Santa Ana Riverbed to the public and evicting the approximately 1,000 people living there. These people have been moved repeatedly along the riverbed and concentrated in an area near Anaheim and Orange.

The County is now evicting people from that area and closing it to the public, but has made no significant progress in finding housing or alternate locations for the displaced. The lawsuit alleges that Anaheim, Orange, and Costa Mesa have blocked homeless people from staying in their cities.

Speaking at a press conference this morning Brooke Weitzman, co-founder of the Elder Law and Disability Rights Center, stated, “Vulnerable residents of Orange County have no alternative. They came to the Santa Ana Riverbed fleeing criminalization in the Cities and if they are forced out of the Riverbed with no alternative, they will be unlawfully detained, ticketed, and arrested for behaviors like using a sleeping bag or using luggage.”

Catherine Sweetser, attorney at Schonbrun Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP, stated, “The County has demonstrated a pattern of using alleged maintenance projects to make public space less hospitable for homeless individuals without providing housing alternatives. It violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to punish someone for sleeping in public when they have nowhere else to sleep.”

(image courtesy AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)