Judge orders LA leaders to explain alleged contempt in homeless case

In a significant escalation of the legal conflict over Los Angeles' homeless encampments, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued an order Friday summoning city leaders to a hearing to determine why they should not be held in contempt of court.

The order was issued in direct response to sharply critical reports from the court-appointed special master, Michele Martinez, and data monitor Daniel G. Garrie, which alleged the city's persistent non-compliance and obstruction of a federal court order governing its landmark homelessness settlement agreement.

"[T]he city shall appear ... to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for the issues raised in the special master's and monitor's status reports," the order to show cause read.

The order compels Mayor Karen Bass and City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson to attend the Nov. 12 hearing in person.

Elizabeth A. Mitchell of Umhofer Mitchell and King LLP, who represent the plaintiffs, celebrated the order in an email on Friday.

"The special master's and data monitor's collective findings mirror our lived reality. The city hasn't kept its word--and every attempt we've made to enforce the settlement has been met with delay and obfuscation. If that same energy went into solutions on the street, we'd all be safer and better off," Mitchell said.

The city is represented by attorneys from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, as well as the city attorney's office. Counsel for the city did not respond to phoned or emailed requests for comment by press time on Friday.

The special master's report also filed on Friday found that the city's response to a status request on the settlement was untimely. LA Alliance for Human Rights et al. v. City of Los Angeles et al., 2:20-cv-02291 (C.D. Cal., filed March 10, 2020).

"It arrived a full week after the special master's inquiry and failed to provide the verified data, milestone documentation, or validation necessary for oversight," read the report.

As a result, the report claimed, Martinez will be unable to fully complete her compliance assessment, while Garrie is unable to validate the city's progress.