The Week in Land Law - SB 10 Lawsuit and LA Skid Row Injunction Vacated

This week, housing advocates challenged SB10 in court, and the Ninth Circuit struck down a sweeping District Court injunction against the City and County of Los Angeles relating to the homelessness crisis.

Litigation:

1. Aids Healthcare Foundation v. Bonta et al, Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. STCP03149 - housing advocates challenge SB 10 on constitutional grounds.

   • The lawsuit claims that, by enacting SB 10, “the State has eviscerated the fundamental protection against subsequent legislative amendment of initiatives without a vote of the people.” The complaint describes the initiative power as “one of the most precious rights of our democratic process.”

   • SB 10, codified at Government Code section 65913.5, allows local governments to disregard the provisions of duly enacted initiative measures that affect planning and land use in local jurisdictions. The result is that local initiatives reflecting the will of voters could be cast aside by city and county government bodies without a vote of the people.

   • The lawsuit seeks a writ of mandate and injunctive relief preventing the enforcement of this provision.

   • If this sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve been harping on this issue (in the context of the referendum power) ever since arguing the appeal in County of Kern v. Alta Sierra Holistic Exchange Service . I also predicted this challenge to SB 10 would be forthcoming. Our Legislature and Governor know better, but they continue to push the limits and further restrict the referendum, initiative and recall powers guaranteed to Californians in our state’s constitution.

2. LA Alliance for Human Rights, et al v. County of Los Angeles, Ninth Circuit Case No. 21-55395, filed September 23, 2021 - vacates the sweeping injunction issued against the City and County of Los Angeles by the District Court.

   • The Opinion begins by noting that 1 in 4 homeless people in the COUNTRY live in Los Angeles County… WOW.

   • Plaintiff LA Alliance for Human Rights and eight individual plaintiffs sued the County and City of Los Angeles for harms stemming from the proliferation of homeless encampments in the Skid Row area. They allege that County and City policies and inaction have created a dangerous environment in Skid Row, to the detriment of local businesses and residents.

   • After negotiations failed to produce a settlement, the district court issued a sweeping injunction against the County and City of Los Angeles and ordered, among other relief: the escrow of $1 billion to address the homelessness crisis, offers of shelter or housing to all unhoused individuals in Skid Row within 180 days, and numerous audits and reports.

   • The district court’s order is premised on its finding that structural racism—in the form of discriminatory lending, real estate covenants, redlining, freeway construction, eminent domain, exclusionary zoning, and unequal access to shelter and affordable housing—is the driving force behind Los Angeles’s homelessness crisis and its disproportionate impact on the Black community. Faulting the County and City for being “unable or unwilling to devise effective solutions to L.A.’s homelessness crisis,” the district court determined it was compelled to act because the “everworsening public health and safety emergency demands immediate, life-saving action.”

   • According to the Ninth Circuit, “none of Plaintiffs’ claims is based on racial discrimination, and the district court’s order is largely based on unpled claims and theories. On appeal, Plaintiffs embrace the entirety of the district court’s order, but because they did not bring most of the claims upon which relief was granted, they failed to put forth evidence to establish standing. To fill the gap, the district court impermissibly resorted to independent research and extra-record evidence. For these reasons, we vacate the preliminary injunction and remand for further proceedings.”

   • The result of the Ninth Circuit decision is more flexibility for the City and County of Los Angeles to deal with resolving the unhoused population problem. It seems to me that if 1/4 of all homeless people in the United States is living in Los Angeles County, this is a national problem requiring national solutions. I very much doubt that all of those currently unhoused in LA County were once housed here. No amount of new construction or social resources is going to stem the tide of new unhoused residents relocating to an area with a temperate climate where government’s hands are tied in preventing people from camping on the streets.