A U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has halted a sweeping ruling that requires the city and county of Los Angeles to house the entire population of skid row by fall.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
Last month, the city and county of Los Angeles filed an appeal of a sweeping injunction from U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ordering urgent action to get people off skid row. In their appeal to the 9th Circuit, the city and county asked for the deadlines to be suspended while their appeal is heard.The appellate court didn’t grant that request outright. Instead, the panel of judges paused the order until June 15 and asked for more information on how granting the stay pending appeal sought by the city and county might affect the case before Carter.
Last month’s ruling called on the city and county to shelter unaccompanied women and children even earlier — within 90 days. It also required the city to place $1 billion into an escrow account and explain how the money would be spent. In his scathing opinion, Judge Carter said that “Los Angeles has lost its parks, beaches, schools, sidewalks, and highway systems due to the inaction of city and county officials who have left our homeless citizens with no other place to turn.” He blamed officials for focusing on building permanent housing — an inherently slow process — at the expense of offering temporary shelter.
Skip Miller, an attorney who represents the county, praised the 9th Circuit’s decision to pause the deadline set forth by Judge Carter. The county is looking forward to having its appeal heard by the 9th Circuit, he said.