Court considers dismissing city appeal in homeless camp case

A panel of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges ordered the city and organizers of the Safe Park protest to show why the case shouldn’t be dismissed now that the protest has ended.

The Safe Park protest — encampments that stretched across a large chunk of downtown — grew out of the Occupy movement in 2013. It escalated when the city said demonstrators couldn’t keep more than a bedroll, a backpack and a beverage with them during the protest.

Organizers sued, and the District Court issued a preliminary injunction in December 2014 against the city taking the protesters’ belongings or interfering with their free speech protest rights.

The injunction remains in effect, but the city appealed, saying it needs the authority to regulate the stuff that accumulates at a homeless encampment. Items at the Safe Park protest included tents, bed rolls and “dream pods” — person-sized plywood boxes that could be used for sleeping and storage.

Since then, the city closed the park in June, citing unsafe and unsanitary conditions, and lead organizer Jon McLane is under a court order to stay away from the park as part of a drug charge.

Organizer John Cooper still sleeps on the sidewalks at the park, said Carl Sammartino, the attorney for Cooper and McLane, and McLane intends to return to the park after the restriction ends in June.

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The Ninth Circuit judges could dismiss the city’s appeal as moot and vacate the preliminary injunction “because Plaintiffs have ceased to ‘occupy’ Veinte de Agosto Park and its surrounding sidewalks,” according to the order issued Monday.

Responses from the city and the Safe Park organizers are due in two weeks.

Deputy City Attorney Chris Avery said the city hasn’t yet decided how to respond and is considering its options.

Sammartino says the protest is ongoing, and the protesters need the protection the injunction provides.

In recent months, up to 12 homeless people have slept on the sidewalks at the park each night before clearing out each morning.

In December, the city changed the rules for sleeping on sidewalks, giving people a maximum of 4 cubic feet of stuff on the sidewalk between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. in downtown and university area commercial zones instead of specifically naming items like backpacks and bedrolls.