On Aug. 3, federal judge Troy L. Nunley of the U.S. district court for the Eastern District of California temporarily banned Sacramento from clearing homeless encampments due to the extremely hot weather in the city.
The ban was originally set to last two weeks, ending on Aug. 17, but on Aug. 16 the judge extended it to the end of the month.
It’s similar to the ban on clearing homeless encampments Mr. Nunley made last year that lasted for almost two months during scorching temperatures, AP reported. Mr. Nunley drew on the same legal analysis this year, prioritizing the health and welfare of homeless individuals, according to AP.
This restraining order was issued following complaints from homeless advocates that the unhoused were being forced out of shaded areas during intense heat. Advocates said this was putting homeless people in danger, AP reported.
The complaint, according to AP, states that 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) quantifies as “excessive heat,” as defined by Sacramento. The city is expected to total 23 of these days throughout August.
Also included in the complaint was an allusion to Sacramento officials moving 30 homeless people who were being sheltered by trees when it was 91 degrees Fahrenheit last month. Officials did offer to relocate them to another encampment, but one that was crowded and not shaded.
Sacramento spokesperson Tim Swanson said the city “respects the order issued by the federal court” but wants clarification on several aspects, including why the city’s conduct was solely addressed, AP reported. The county wasn’t included in the restraining order, despite being a defendant in the lawsuit. A county spokesperson declined to answer AP’s inquiry and said the county doesn’t speak on pending litigation.
The orders stemmed from a lawsuit filed last June by the Sacramento Homeless Union, a homeless advocacy group, as well as three homeless individuals, according to AP.
AP reported that Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, thanked the court for acknowledging and recognizing their complaint, and she said in a statement: “We are grateful to the court for recognizing the increased risk of harm to thousands of unhoused, unsheltered residents by this cruel practice, in violation of the city’s own written protocols regarding sweeps during periods of excessive heat.”
On Aug. 7, District Attorney Thien Ho wrote the city a letter notifying that it would be charged with a misdemeanor for every day it did not address what he referred to as the nuisance the homeless encampments were creating.
“Over the last six years, Sacramento’s unsheltered population has increased by over 250%. We have a public safety crisis that is endangering both the unhoused and the housed. Our community is caught between compassion and chaos as we reach a breaking point that requires action,” he wrote.
Mr. Ho gave the city a list of requests for the city to act on within the next 30 days. The list asks for compliance action, temporary emergency shelter space and camping space, access to data related to shelter beds, a citywide daytime camping ban, implementation of compliance protocols, clearing of identified encampments, audits, and point-in-time courts.
He stated that his office conducted a survey with 16 encampments located throughout Sacramento.
“We have received over 1600 responses in a matter of days. Many of the responses were disturbing and appalling. Residents reported they were assaulted at gunpoint by an unhoused individual; a girls’ soccer game was postponed because of hypodermic needles on the field; a homeowner was diagnosed with PTSD due to the constant harassment and break-ins by unhoused people living in an encampment across the street from her home; children have had to walk through human feces and urine to get to school.”
Mr. Ho was elected in 2022 after vowing in his campaign to address the city’s homelessness crisis.
He called this the city’s opportunity to help this issue and described it as the “first formal step towards litigation against the City of Sacramento.”
The DA previously sent a letter on June 30 asking for the encampments outside the courthouse to be cleared. According to the Sacramento Bee, the letter led Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg to promise that the encampments would be cleared within two weeks and moved to Miller Park campground.
Homeless advocates say the crisis cannot be helped without more investment in affordable housing and that encampment sweeps are harmful to the homeless, AP reported.
Angela Hassell, executive director of Sacramento Loaves and Fishes, doesn’t see this as a viable solution but more of a coverup, according to the report.
“That might serve to kind of clean the streets and make homelessness less visible, but I don’t think that is actually going to help the folks that are living with being homeless,” she said.
However, others argue that encampments are both unsanitary and lawless and that they unnecessarily pack sidewalks and block people from using them, the report stated. They say allowing people to deteriorate in this manner is neither humane nor compassionate.
On the same day, Anthony Prince, chief council of the Sacramento Homeless Union, in a message to Attorney General Rob Bonta, accused Mr. Ho of disobeying the restraining order for a political advantage, the Davis Vanguard reported.
“We believe Mr. Ho has dangerously overstepped his authority as a County District Attorney and is misusing his office to gain a political advantage by demanding that the City act in such a manner tantamount to willful disobedience by the City of Sacramento of a Temporary Restraining Order issued by District Judge Troy L. Nunley,” Mr. Prince stated. “[There have been] rhetoric and threats coming from the Sacramento District Attorney to pressure the City of Sacramento to resume currently-enjoined enforcement of its anti-camping ordinances, this is an urgent matter for the Sacramento Homeless Union and its 2,700 members.”
The union added, “We want to advise the DA and the public that D.A. Ho’s letter appears to call upon the City of Sacramento to take actions that may violate a federal court injunction issued on August 3, 2023 by District Court Judge Troy L. Nunley prohibiting the clearing of homeless encampments that will remain in effect, if not extended, until August 17, 2023.”
The following morning, on Aug. 8, Mr. Steinberg reacted to Mr. Ho’s comments and blasted him at a news conference, saying he’s politicizing the issue instead of working with the city.
“[Mr. Ho] deflects responsibility, takes credit for programs the city initiated, lacks basic understanding of existing shelter management system and funding structures, and includes a series of demands that would cripple the city financially,” said Mr. Steinberg.
In the press event, Mr. Steinberg said the city is already working to address many of the issues the DA identifies but following all of his demands will be financially ruinous.
He said his office brought numerous proposals to Mr. Ho last month, including offers to expand mental health and drug courts, as well as alternatives to misdemeanor charges for homeless people.
“I wanted to see if we might work together. … That was July 26. Today is August 8. I reminded him once last week that I still would like to talk … heard nothing,” said Mr. Steinberg.
Additionally, he said he proposed that the DA’s office increase its prosecution of misdemeanor crimes involving encampments and get more perpetrators into diversion programs and alternative courts.
Mr. Steinberg mentioned the possibility of Mr. Ho stepping down from his position.
“Mr. Ho, you seem to want to abdicate your job to me, the city attorney and to the city. … Please, sir, do your job,” Mr. Steinberg said. “Your public posture is at best disingenuous and at worst dangerous.”
“I’m not going to continue to have my city being threatened by someone who’s not doing his part,” Mr. Steinberg said.
According to Fox 40 News, Mr. Steinberg said, “I’m asking him to fund community prosecutors to commit to more broad diversion, to fight for more resources for the courts and to partner with me and with the county to make sure that the services are provided.”
In his news conference, Mr. Steinberg was alongside Mayor Pro Tem Mai Vang and District 5 Councilmember Caity Maple, who backed him for his cooperation and willingness to collaborate. They asked Mr. Ho to do the same, Fox 40 News reported.
“Let’s come to the table, let’s work together, we can only create good change in the city by working together and so we need you at the table along with everyone else,” Ms. Maple said according to Fox 40 News.
In a statement following his letter, Mr. Ho stood by it.
