The lawsuit seeking additional homeless shelters in five south Orange County cities has been dismissed by a federal judge, however, it is still possible to re-filed as separate lawsuits targeting each city individually.
In his ruling, Judge Percy Anderson says, “The Court concludes that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20 does not allow the [joining] of Plaintiffs’ claims against each of the municipalities into a single [lawsuit],” which is why the only option now is to individually file lawsuits against cities.
Anderson also decided to dismiss four of the five cities originally involved completely, those being Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano. The fifth city involved, San Clemente, will have to refile and address new anti-camping ordinance that was passed after the original lawsuit was filed.
When it comes to San Clemente, Anderson says that if the plaintiffs wish to continue they must file an amended lawsuit by September 16. “Failure to file by that date may, without further warning, result in the dismissal of this action with prejudice,” Anderson ruled. In addition, the new suit he added “shall not include any new or different defendants, claims, causes of action, or legal theories.” As for the other four cities originally involved, the option to re-file is also available, but the likelihood is low.
Originally the lawsuit was targeting five cities from enforcing new anti-camping laws until new shelters were made available. They cite Martin v. the city of Boise which ruled that it was unconstitutional to punish homeless people for camping if there weren’t adequate options available. However, part of this lawsuits goal was accomplished on July 23 when a settlement was announced in a different lawsuit that blocks Sheriffs from enforcing anti-camping laws until beds were made available.
