As heat wave approaches, federal judge orders Sacramento to halt homeless camp sweeps
A federal judge has ordered the city of Sacramento to halt sweeps of any homeless camps for the next 14 days as advocates warn that a coming heat wave is endangering unhoused individuals who are being forced to move from shaded areas.
U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley issued the order Thursday morning in response to a request by homeless advocates who say forecasters expect temperatures in August to hit 90 degrees or greater on 21 days, with temperatures of 95 expected on nine days.
The Sacramento Homeless Union argued in a court filing Aug. 1 that the city’s protocols define temperatures above 90 as “excessive heat” and that such temperatures must be taken into consideration before camps are cleared.
“Plaintiffs argue that despite these protocols, the city continues to conduct widespread clearing of encampments, which displaces unhoused individuals from areas of protection from the sun and heat into more exposed areas,” Nunley wrote in his six-page order. “For these reasons, Plaintiffs seek to enjoin the City from clearing encampments through mid-September 2023, when temperatures are expected to fall below 90 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Nunley also noted that the Homeless Union had argued that “the city ‘offered’ to relocate the displaced individuals to its ‘Safeground’ site at Miller Park, a location where individuals are crowded together in tents with no shade.”
He also wrote that advocates had cited new “political developments’ in Sacramento’s efforts to contain its homeless problem.
“These developments include: a new sidewalk ordinance; a measure that allows any person to initiate a lawsuit against the City for failure to clear homeless encampments; expansion of area within City limits defined as ‘critical infrastructure’ where camping is banned; and public demands from the Presiding Judge of the Sacramento Superior Court and the District Attorney calling for increased police presence at and around the main courthouse to enforce code violations,” Nunley wrote.
Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, said in a statement that the group was “grateful to the court for recognizing the increased risk of harm to thousands of unhoused, unsheltered residents by this cruel practice, in violation of the city’s own written protocols regarding sweeps during periods of excessive heat.”
A city spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Nunley, who granted a preliminary injunction last summer against sweeps of the camps from July 29 through September 23, wrote in his latest order that his order temporarily enjoins “the City and all of its officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and all persons under their direction and control, from clearing encampments belonging to the unhoused” for the next 14 days.
He also ordered both sides to meet and “file a joint statement regarding possible ways to narrow the scope of any future injunctions to best balance the competing interests at play.”
The judge ordered the joint statement to be filed by 5 p.m. Wednesday after which he said he “will determine whether to extend, modify, or terminate the injunction.”
The order comes as Sacramento officials continue to grapple with a homeless crisis that has seen Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho announce he is investigating city officials’ response to the issue and a vote Tuesday by the City Council to direct City Manager Howard Chan to create new city-sanctioned encampments.
This story was originally published August 3, 2023 at 11:53 AM.