By Mike Rhodes
On Nov. 8, 2011, this homeless man held a handmade sign on Santa Clara Street as City of Fresno workers destroyed his shelter. Now the homeless are fighting back with a lawsuit alleging that the City of Fresno and Caltrans took and destroyed their property.
Attorneys for homeless residents of Fresno announced the filing of nine lawsuits on March 22, brought on behalf of 12 individual homeless residents of Fresno arising out of the demolition and destruction of their dwellings and personal property beginning on Oct. 27, 2011, and continuing through the winter months. The suits, filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno, name as defendants the City of Fresno, Caltrans and a number of individual defendants who authorized or participated in the demolition of the homeless encampments.
The suits claim that the city and Caltrans destroyed shelters, warm clothing, tents and irreplaceable personal items in violation of both federal and state law, as well as the city’s own ordinance, without any regard to the impact these destructions would have on the homeless. As the suit points out, the City of Fresno chose to begin its demolitions, including the destruction of shelters and clothing that were essential for protection against the rain and freezing weather, just as winter began.
In 2008, the City of Fresno and Caltrans settled a class action, known as the Kincaid class action, brought against them for their treatment of homeless residents, for a total of $2.35 million. These lawsuits differ in that they are proceeding as individual actions, and each will seek trials to establish damages not only for property loss but also for suffering and illness caused by exposure to the elements, mental suffering and other forms of damage arising from the way the City decided to go about its demolitions.
As in the earlier case, personal items, medicine, textbooks and other essential property were destroyed. Because of the nature and timing of the destruction, the suits also seek losses for significant individual damages beyond property damage. Each suit filed on March 22 sets forth the nature of the destruction and damages caused to each plaintiff.
Lawyers for homeless residents anticipate that there will be a significant number of additional individual actions filed in the weeks ahead, though the exact number is unknown. Many homeless residents are still contacting counsel to assert claims.
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Mike Rhodes is the editor of the Community Alliance newspaper. Contact him at editor@fresnoalliance.com.