Law penalizing homeless rejected
L.A. MUST FIRST PROVIDE SHELTER, PANEL RULES
Sat, Apr. 15, 2006

by Robert Jablon

LOS ANGELES - The city cannot arrest homeless people for sleeping on the sidewalks until it provides enough beds for the thousands who lack shelter each night, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that permitted the city to enforce the law at will.

The panel said the ordinance violates the Constitution's Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment because the people who break it have no choice.

"I think the homeless have just found shelter with the federal courts. I think it's a brave and courageous decision," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

He said the ruling is unique in the nation. "There's never been a case that a community may not criminalize homelessness," he said.

The ACLU sued the city and Police Chief William Bratton in February 2003 for enforcing the law in downtown's Skid Row -- an area with the nation's highest concentration of homeless people.

A federal judge dismissed the case after finding the ordinance penalized conduct, not a person's homeless status. Friday's ruling reversed that decision and sent the case back to the lower court "for a determination of injunctive relief consistent with this opinion."

Earlier this month, a blue-ribbon panel suggested building 50,000 housing units as a way of ending homelessness throughout Los Angeles County within a decade.

The ACLU's Rosenbaum said such efforts are "a step in the correct direction."

The suit originally was filed on behalf of six homeless people who were cited or arrested under the law, and Rosenbaum said he was trying to contact them Friday to tell them the news of the appellate ruling.

It was unclear whether the city would decide to appeal the appellate ruling.

"We are in the process of reviewing our options," said Contessa Mankiewicz, spokeswoman for the city attorney's office.

The law carries a fine of up to $1,000 and a six-month jail term. The city had argued it was a necessary crime-stopping tool in a city where an estimated 48,000 people are homeless on any given night.