By Michael Davis
City Politics
Santa Monica’s homeless situation was the focus of attention last week as the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, or the ACLU/SC, declared an end to its one-year federal lawsuit against the City. In this lawsuit it filed with the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, it accused Santa Monica of hostile policies toward the homeless, especially the mentally ill homeless. But who actually won this battle is a matter of debate.
The City and the ACLU/SC last week issued dueling press releases, each one declaring victory. The ACLU/SC claimed it had scared the City into changing its policies so that it became a better caretaker for the homeless. The City said it has always been kind, and the ACLU/SC’s lawsuit did not change anything, and was in fact a complete waste of time.
“When it comes to addressing homelessness, Santa Monica is the regional leader,” Mayor Bobby Shriver said in the City’s press release. “We believe the lawsuit was unnecessary and a distraction. Everyone needs to focus on regional issues to solve homelessness in Los Angeles once and for all.”
The City’s press release focused on the fact that the deal to end the lawsuit involved no financial payments or change in City laws or policies, and most importantly “no admission of any fault whatsoever.” It then went on to describe various programs the City has to help the homeless, including its Action Plan to End Homelessness in Santa Monica, which it described as “a focused strategy developed by the City with local service providers and other agencies to ensure the most vulnerable and chronically homeless people on the streets are served.” The City also boasted that it has 450 beds for homeless people, which it stated are more than most cities can say.
“Santa Monica is known nationwide for its long history of responding to homelessness with compassion, innovation and funding,” the press release stated. “For these reasons, the ACLU/SC’s lawsuit was a waste of their resources and a failure to understand Santa Monica’s extensive work.”
When one reads the press release from the ACLU/SC, you might think you are reading about a totally different case.
“As a result of Santa Monica’s de facto policy of criminalizing the mentally ill homeless, we filed suit -- similar to our successful lawsuits in Los Angeles, Laguna Beach and Santa Barbara -- in an attempt to get the City to direct its efforts to eliminate homelessness, not the homeless,” said Mark Rosenbaum, chief counsel for the ACLU/SC. “Almost immediately after our filing against Santa Monica, we documented that the practice of using the City’s vague anti-camping ordinance to harass the homeless had ceased, and that therefore the objective of the litigation had been met.”
The ACLU/SC’s press release went on to say it will be monitoring Santa Monica to make sure things continue to go smoothly. It also described some alleged cases of mistreatment of the mentally ill homeless people in Santa Monica. Among them was a paranoid schizophrenic woman who claimed to see flying saucers. She was allegedly arrested and jailed multiple times for sleeping on the sidewalk. Also a recovering addict was supposedly sleeping outside a shelter that did not have enough beds. The ACLU/SC claims the man lost his job because he was in jail after this arrest.
“We urge the City to focus its efforts away from criminalization and toward constructive supportive services aimed at eliminating homelessness, not the homeless,” said Jonathan Altman, an attorney with Munger, Tolles & Olson.
The two sides did agree on something. They reached a resolution on a “Joint Statement of Mutual Principles” on how homeless people should be treated. The principles are as follows:
All communities need to provide a reasonable amount of shelter beds and services;
No one should be forced out of any community because he or she is homeless;
Merely sleeping and homeless status should not be crimes anywhere;
Communities need to engage in outreach to their most vulnerable; and,
Public safety personnel must be adequately trained.
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