Suit Filed To Halt Orange County’s Efforts To Dismantle Homeless Encampment
People began relocating to a three-mile stretch of the Santa Ana River Trail last winter from the dismantled Fountain Valley encampment along the bike path.
The Associated Press:
Lawsuit Seeks To Stop Big California Homeless Camp Shutdown
A religious organization that serves the poor in Southern California filed a lawsuit Monday to try to stop local governments from forcing homeless people out of a big encampment along a riverbed trail. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by the Orange County Catholic Worker group and seven homeless people claims a broad range of violations of constitutional protections by the governments of Orange County and the cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Orange. (1/29)
Orange County Register:
Nonprofit Group Sues The County To Stop Clearing Of Homeless Encampments Along Santa Ana Riverbed
“My personal rights, my civil rights, my constitutional rights have been violated,” said Larry Ford, one of seven homeless people on whose behalf the lawsuit was filed, along with the nonprofit homeless services provider Catholic Worker of Orange County. “It comes down to we have the right to be somewhere.” But county leaders say that “somewhere” can no longer be at the riverbed for people like Ford, who relocated last winter from the dismantled Fountain Valley encampment along the bike trail. (Walker and Graham, 1/29)