A Fresno-based attorney looks to mount a class action lawsuit against the city over its anti-encampment law.<\/p>\n
Attorney Kevin Little plans to challenge the constitutionality of the City of Fresno\u2019s anti-encampment policy in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of California.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, names Wickey TwoHands and Joseph Quinney as plaintiffs.<\/p>\n
TwoHands made headlines earlier this year as the first unhoused person to be prosecuted by the City Attorney\u2019s Office under the new law. TwoHands\u2019 case was thrown out of court after a judge ruled that city prosecutors violated TwoHands\u2019 right<\/a> to a speedy trial.<\/p>\n Little\u2019s lawsuit<\/a>, if accepted, asks the court to order the city to end enforcement of its anti-encampment law and pay damages to homeless individuals affected by the ordinance. Little argues that the law deprives homeless individuals, \u201cparticularly the elderly and disabled,\u201d of their \u201cfundamental constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n The suit also accuses law enforcement of false arrest, illegal searches and property seizures, disability discrimination and constitutional violations, among the more than two dozen claims listed in the complaint.<\/p>\n Little told Fresnoland that Quinney, the second listed plaintiff in the case, is another individual he represented in the past over the city\u2019s anti-encampment law. Quinney is a 52-year-old man with poor vision that is attached to the case to help represent homeless individuals with disabilities. His case was also dismissed, Little said.<\/p>\n Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer\u2019s office declined to comment on this story, deferring to the city attorney.<\/p>\n Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz told Fresnoland on Wednesday night that the city is prepared to defend its policy in court.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin is a friend and I look forward to taking this case to the Supreme Court \u2014 the same Supreme Court that upheld this sort of ordinance,\u201d Janz said. \u201cAgain, the municipal law passed by the City Council does not punish housing status, just behavior. To that point, one of the named plaintiffs, Joseph Quinney, told officers he was housed.\u201d<\/p>\n It may be months until both parties know whether the court will entertain the legal challenge, Little told Fresnoland on Wednesday. He said the process is \u201clengthy\u201d and added that he still has to formally serve the city his case.<\/p>\n Local cities and counties were granted the power to pass anti-encampment laws following a ruling by the United States Supreme Court last year<\/a>. The city<\/a> and county<\/a> of Fresno were among the first jurisdictions across the country to pass such laws, introducing and codifying them within weeks of the high court\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was part of a coalition of government leaders instrumental in getting the Supreme Court take on the Grants Pass case, has encouraged cities and counties to do the same. Newsom does not have the power to force jurisdictions to pass such laws.<\/p>\n