SF accused of violating constitutional rights of unhoused people

San Francisco faces a brand new lawsuit that alleges town has violated the constitutional rights of unhoused folks.

Driving the information: The lawsuit, filed Tuesday night by the Legal professionals Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Space, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California on behalf of the Coalition on Homelessness and 7 unhoused folks, alleges town has violated the constitutional rights of unhoused folks by criminalizing homelessness regardless of the dearth of shelters — particularly by:

• Forceful displacement with citations, fines and/or arrests;
• Sweeps, or, the seizing and destruction of the belongings of unhoused people on public sidewalks.

The large image: About 20,000 folks, 2.5% of San Francisco’s inhabitants, are anticipated to expertise homelessness this 12 months.

• In the meantime, folks of coloration expertise homelessness at disproportionate charges in SF, making this a problem of racial injustice, Zal Shroff, senior lawyer for racial justice at LCCRSF, instructed Axios.

By the numbers: Citing public information over a six-month interval between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2021, the lawsuit alleges town displaced about 1,200 unhoused folks, however solely saved 195 objects or luggage of belongings. The implication, in line with the go well with, is that town is disposing of peoples’ belongings, in the end violating the authorized requirement that town retailer confiscated property for 90 days.

• Over the previous three years, the go well with alleges town has cited or arrested at the very least 3,000 unhoused folks for sleeping or residing in public, regardless of not having sufficient shelter beds to supply.

What they’re saying: San Francisco is criminalizing homelessness, Shroff instructed Axios. “…What they need to do is sweep it underneath the rug, they need to fake like they’ve made an affect and that there is no extra homelessness within the metropolis simply because they’ve destroyed everybody’s stuff.”

• Couper Orona, a 48-year-old former firefighter who misplaced everlasting housing about 5 years in the past following a divorce, needs town “would have extra of a coronary heart,” Orona instructed Axios.
• Orona, who in a authorized declaration attested to witnessing sweeps on “numerous events,” emphasised to Axios that not all unhoused individuals are drug addicts or alcoholics, saying, “Not everyone seems to be all these evil issues that individuals take into consideration [those] who’re unhoused.”

The opposite aspect: San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s workplace stated it is unable to touch upon the lawsuit, however famous town is targeted on increasing each momentary and everlasting housing for folks.

• Since June 2020, for instance, town says it has added practically 3,000 new everlasting supportive housing items.
• The town lawyer’s workplace echoed the mayor’s workplace, saying SF is engaged on options to “alleviate our homelessness disaster,” Jen Kwart, its director of communications and media relations, stated in an announcement to Axios.
• Kwart added that town nonetheless must evaluation the grievance and can reply in court docket.

What to look at: The lawsuit is a “final resort” that goals to power town to cease “destroying folks’s property in massive numbers,” Shroff stated, including the deserves of the go well with’s claims are sturdy. He is hopeful town agrees to “come to the desk to debate this as a result of it is fairly clear that what they’re doing is blatantly unconstitutional.”

• In any other case, he stated, the following step can be to hunt an emergency listening to in six weeks.