City Settles Homeless Suit

Laguna Beach agreed to settle a lawsuit over its treatment of disabled homeless people by constraining police from interfering with those asleep in public places, the ACLU-led legal team that brought the suit announced Thursday.

The settlement marks a shift away from the criminalization of homeless people and toward recognition of their membership in the community, according to a statement by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Under the agreement, the city's police officers will not cite, arrest or harass people under state law simply for sleeping in public places, as long as there are no reasonable public health or safety concerns. City officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The agreement also establishes a process for expunging from the public record citations and convictions obtained under the city's previous anti-camping ordinance, key portions of which were repealed in February following the filing of the lawsuit last December.

"Laguna Beach's action on this issue is a model for other cities in how to seek legal, compassionate and economically sound ways of eliminating homelessness, not the homeless," said Ramona Ripston, the ACLU's executive director in Southern California. The ACLU, Newport Beach law firm Irell & Manella and Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine law school filed the suit on behalf of four dis- homeless plaintiffs.

The process for sealing, expunging or destroying citations and convictions was a key part of the settlement agreement, which will remain in effect for three years, said Andra Barmash Greene, managing partner of Irell & Manella and co-counsel in the suit. "Citations and fines can exacerbate homelessness. They affect an individual's ability to renew a driver's license and receive state benefits, and often lead to arrest warrants and incarceration," she said. "We're particularly pleased that the plaintiffs in this case will be able to resolve improper infractions on their records and avoid this destructive cycle, which unfortunately works to perpetuate homelessness in Laguna Beach and other cities."

The suit was filed after talks between city officials and lawyers representing the homeless in 2008 failed to yield results. Early in 2008, the City Council had adopted recommendations from its own homeless task force that included supporting the establishment of a shelter and mental health services. So far, the council has yet to implement these recommendations, but did agree to discontinue citing and arresting

homeless people for sleeping in public places.

The city task force's report concluded that there are an estimated 45 to 55 homeless people living in Laguna Beach. More recent estisaid mates put the figure closer to 70, the ACLU statement said.

Nearly all the homeless people in Laguna Beach meet the definition of "chronically homeless" - people who have been homeless repeatedly or for an extended period of time, and have mental or physical disabilities, the task force noted.

"This settlement agreement builds on the city's repeal of its anti-sleeping ordinance, and is one more important step toward decriminalizing homelessness in Laguna Beach," said Hector Villagra, director of the Orange County office of the ACLU/SC. "It sets the stage for the city to adopt long-term strategies to end homelessness, rather than quick fixes to keep the homeless out of sight. We hope other cities will take note of this sensible approach."