District Attorney Thien Ho is preparing a legal response to a demurrer—a plea challenging the validity of a case—entered by the City of Sacramento on Oct. 17 that seeks to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the district attorney’s office in September.
“Our office has received a copy of the City of Sacramento’s demurrer to our complaint,” Mr. Ho told The Epoch Times by email on Oct. 20. “This is a common and expected legal tactic.”
The district attorney’s office will file a response soon, he said, noting the need for urgent action to address the growing problem of homelessness in the region.
“[We] remain steadfast in our mission to protect public safety,” Mr. Ho said. “We will continue to do our part to ensure that the unhoused are not left forgotten on the streets and that all residents of Sacramento live in a safe and just community.”
In the city’s plea, attorneys admitted some facts of the complaint—including the widespread homeless crisis—but denied responsibility, claiming immunity from legal proceedings and questioning the right of the district attorney to bring such a case against the city.
“Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho’s Complaint is as surprising as it is novel,” city attorneys wrote in a memorandum accompanying the demurrer. “But those are not admirable qualities when they lead to a waste of government and judicial resources.”
Attorneys argued that the demurrer is needed to “stem further waste” anticipated because of the “legal untenability” of the complaint.
In letters sent between the two parties in attempts to resolve the issue before trial, both sides held firm regarding their claims.
“It is unfortunate that rather than continuing to work together cooperatively with the city to address significant and ongoing issues that relate to the unhoused, your office has decided to resort to litigation against the City on this issue,” Chance L. Trimm, Sacramento’s senior deputy city attorney, wrote to the district attorney’s office in September. “Litigation will not solve this crisis and will only deepen and exacerbate this crisis.”
The district attorney questioned the sincerity of the city’s attempts to address the matter and avoid legal proceedings.
“It is rather unfortunate that we could not work more cooperatively to secure a just resolution on this case for the residents of the City of Sacramento,” Mr. Ho wrote on Oct. 5 in response to the city’s letter. “As you are aware, your responsibility to meet and confer in good faith prior to filing a demurrer entails something more than a ‘take it or leave it’ offer or brief conversation in which you ask the perfunctory question, ‘so you’re not going to dismiss your case, right?’”
The district attorney’s office reiterated its demands that the city uphold its social contract and provide reasonable levels of public safety.
“It is the City’s responsibility to enforce its ordinances to promote the safety and well-being of all its residents,” Mr. Ho wrote. “It is in fact the City’s abject failure to do so that has allowed the unhoused problem to exist and worsen to the crisis that it is today.”
Noting so-called zero enforcement policies enacted by city administrators preventing the clearing of homeless encampments, as reported by some law enforcement officials, the district attorney said such policies are detrimental to society and need to be investigated. According to the letter, this includes uncovering who’s responsible for issuing such directives, with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood named as potentially responsible.
Citing existing case law in its response, the district attorney’s office remained confident that its lawsuit—seeking no monetary claims but aiming to force the city to act and address homelessness—will result in positive action.
“The city has absolutely contributed to the unmitigated disaster that is its unhoused crisis,” Mr. Ho wrote in the letter. “It is our position that this is a triable issue, and the City of Sacramento cannot hide behind a facade of discretionary power.”
Describing homeless individuals living in “Third World conditions” in which housed residents are stuck “between compassion and chaos,” the lawsuit noted a 250 percent increase in homelessness in the region over the past seven years, with more unhoused individuals living in the state capital than in San Francisco.
