Immediate Press Release Lawsuit Filed on Behalf Of Sacramento Unhoused

June 24, 2022

Judge denies TRO but sets hearing on Homeless Union motion for an injunction to protect the unhoused from deadly heat. The Sacramento Homeless Union is disappointed by the decision of the district court to deny our motion for a temporary order filed earlier yesterday regarding the failure of the City and County of Sacramento to take measures to protect the unsheltered from the extreme heat we continue to face.

However, we are encouraged that the Court has set a hearing on our motion for July 8, 2022. We will, therefore, be focusing the next two weeks on gathering the evidence with which we hope to convince the Court that a mandatory injunction is necessary to protect the unsheltered from extreme heat in Sacramento.

In particular, the Court indicated it would require evidence showing, for example, that the City is planning the imminent destruction of encampments currently shaded from triple-digit temperatures. We intend to present such evidence — and more — to show that the City and County must offer more than a handful of part-time cooling centers; more than pushing the homeless onto the sweltering streets and sidewalks; more than locking the unhoused into the City’s dangerously overheated “Safeground” tents.

But we need your help to make the case.

We call upon the people of Sacramento, the media, the church, elected officials — and in particular, those organizations that claim they are against the sweeps and on the side of the homeless — to join our lawsuit, to help gather the evidence we need, to sign declarations and be prepared to testify to the failures of the City and County to protect those most at risk for heat-related injury and death.

We say to those who recite the names of the dead on Homeless Memorial Day: STAND UP to end homeless deaths on the street; walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
― Dante Alighieri

For the Sacramento Homeless Union,
Crystal Sanchez,
President Anthony Prince, General Counsel
1-510-301-1472

LINK TO COPY LAWSUIT: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1×3-DZlEMWxoUlPbhcuoVbxQrlwcxtQBM?usp=sharing