2 days ago
Lawyer calls Berkeley's surprise homeless sweep "a page out of the Trump playbook"
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10, to decide if a long-standing homeless encampment in West Berkeley should be allowed to continue. But there's just one problem. It doesn't exist anymore.
The city tore it all down on June 4, less than a week before a federal court was supposed to decide the matter. And one federal judge isn't happy, ruling that not only were tents trashed in the operation, but so was the people's right to due process.
A handful of tents have already returned to 8th and Harrison. But on the morning of June 4, without any notice, police and city cleanup crews descended on the homeless encampment. Officers ordered residents to be out in 20 minutes, using smoke and threatening non-lethal projectiles to hurry people along.
Encampment resident Anthony Martinez was shocked by the action.
"Yeah, that was abrupt. That was a draconian take," he said. "That shows me that you got a home, and I guess mine doesn't get included in your thoughts."
The camp was torn apart, loaded into dump trucks, and disposed of. But many of the residents are members of an organization called the Berkeley Homeless Union, which had requested and was granted a federal order to stop any sweeps at 8th and Harrison.
The order expired on May 23, but U.S. District Judge Edward Chen granted a hearing for June 10. The city decided it didn't have to wait for that and moved in to remove the camp anyway.
"In the face of all that, the city simply decided to circumvent the judicial process, the civil justice system, and carry out what we are characterizing as a raid," said Anthony Prince, the attorney for the Homeless Union. "That was not an abatement. That was not even a sweep. That was a raid."
Later that morning, Judge Chen issued a one-sentence ruling, halting the sweep even though it had already taken place. And in his explanation, the judge said the city had an obligation to provide the residents with proper notice of the sweep, especially after he granted them the June hearing.
Berkeley argued that the campers were warned back in January that they could not live there, but the judge said that was not valid notice since it came before he granted the stay on any sweeps.
"Thus, residents had a reasonable expectation that any abatement action in the interim would be preceded by some reasonable notice, both to allow them to prepare to move and to be able to seek immediate court relief, if necessary," he wrote in his ruling. "Under these circumstances, taking action without prior notice offends due process."
"So, this is a very serious situation," said attorney Prince. "It is a complete disregard of the authority of the court, and because the hearing was scheduled on shortened time, we believe it is tantamount to contempt of court."
And Prince believes it was no accident. He said he's concerned about the strategy, being played out across the country, of ignoring judges' rulings as a way of testing them.
"I think we're in a very dangerous, very dangerous place," he said. "It's not unexpected from the Trump administration, which indicated openly that they were going to take these steps. But it is surprising that in the city of Berkeley, for them to have engaged in this raid, in this assault that took place Wednesday, is shocking. They took a page out of the Trump playbook."
For now, the tents can stay, at least until Tuesday morning's hearing. What happens after that will not only determine the fate of a homeless encampment but could raise questions about the validity of the rule of law itself.
