L.A. Homeless Encampment Removal Lawsuit: Judge Rules Violation
Los angeles Violated Open Meeting Law in Homeless Encampment Plan
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled this week that the Los Angeles City council violated California’s Ralph M.Brown Act by approving a plan to clear 9,800 homeless encampments during a closed-door session. The decision, issued on January 10, 2026, found the council acted improperly.
Judge Curtis Kin detailed his ruling in a 10-page decision, stating the city Council approved the encampment strategy on January 31, 2024, in a closed session. While the Brown Act permits closed-door meetings for legal strategy discussions with attorneys, Kin wrote, “what the City cannot do…is formulate adn approve policy decisions in a closed session outside the public eye merely because such decisions are in furtherance of a settlement agreement.”
The encampment plan stemmed from a legal settlement with the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, which had sued the city regarding its handling of the homelessness crisis. The city is obligated to meet encampment removal targets this summer under the agreement.
the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) filed the lawsuit challenging the closed-door deliberations and secured the ruling. LA CAN attorneys have argued the city’s goal of removing 9,800 encampments within four years could incentivize sanitation workers to violate the property rights of unhoused residents.
“The City Council approved an extremely controversial plan to clear almost 10,000 encampments entirely in secret,” said Shayla Myers, LA CAN’s attorney. “They never disclosed the plan before they voted.”
Hydee Feldstein Soto,the City Attorney,declined to comment on the decision through spokesperson Karen Richardson.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times.