𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

Apr 10

The city spent a lot of time and energy in the past months trying to be strategic in getting around (rather than complying with) the 9th Circuit Ruling that homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping outside on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives.

They have pushed people out further and further towards the edge of town with the stated intention, per Chico Councilmember Morgan, of making them so miserable they leave. Despite the fact that EVERY ACTUAL STUDY shows the majority of people on our streets are from the area and have no connections to other places to go.

Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) filed suit against the city of Chico on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento. LSNC previously warned the city they were out of compliance with the law and faced potential litigation back in January.

Nonetheless, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲-𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐐𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐚𝐲, 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬, potentially losing the city hundreds of thousands in funding, and are now costing the city hundreds of thousands more to fight a lawsuit based on their specific decision to make people's live miserable. That sucking sound you hear during council meetings may be the vacuum created by the complete lack of competent leadership from Coolidge or the vacuous inanity of Denlay, well, speaking.

You can review the full filing here:

Legal Service of Northern California Injunction Against City of Chico

And see the story from NSPR here:

NSPR Coverage