A new lawsuit filed against the City of Fresno aims to create a blueprint for other California cities when it comes to the treatment and rights of the unhoused.

According to the complaint, which was filed on December 10, the class action lawsuit alleges “the City’s unconstitutional practices and ordinances criminalize homelessness and systemically deprives unhoused individuals.”

The defendants listed in the lawsuit include the City of Fresno and four of its officers.

“The only thing that we have are lots of citations and arrests. When we have the ability to with all of the funding that the city has gone through, we could have changed so many people’s lives for the better,” said Kevin Little, attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the City of Fresno.

The lawsuit lists false arrests as well as violations of due process and discrimination against persons with disabilities.

The 61-page document is seeking unspecified damages for members of Fresno’s unhoused community, specifically highlighting two plaintiffs – Wickey Two-Hands and Joseph Quinney, who qualify for certain protections under state, federal, and disability laws.

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Attorney Kevin Little has represented both plaintiffs in criminal court.

“When they were cited and arrested for violations of the prior version of the ordinance, and when those cases were on the verge of trial, the city dismissed the charges against both of them,” said Little.

City Attorney Andrew Janz issued a statement on the lawsuit, which read in part, “I look forward to taking this case to the Supreme Court – the same Supreme Court that upheld this sort of ordinance.”

“It sounds like the City is leaning on a Supreme Court decision from a year and a half ago called Johnson vs. Grant’s Pass, but we aren’t asserting any claims that relate to that case,” said Little.

Janz’s statement goes on to read, “the municipal law passed by the Fresno City Council does not punish housing status, just behavior.”

Little hopes this lawsuit will serve as a model for other cities and jurisdictions when it comes to the unhoused.

“I hope that’s the choice the City makes rather than to spend millions of dollars and potentially years in court while people continue to suffer and die on the streets,” said Little.

On December 12, the City of Fresno will be served with the complaint.

Both parties will then appear in federal court with a date set in April.

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