RBGG’s Ernest Galvan contributed an op-ed to the Daily Journal on July 23, 2021, “Does LA’s homelessness crisis justify federal court intervention in local affairs?” The entire article is available here.
Galvan writes: “What are the powers of a federal court when faced with deeply entrenched violations of federal constitutional rights? What should the federal court do when the violations are so deeply entrenched that they have become part of ordinary everyday life? And what should a federal court do when those violations were caused by state and local governments , and can be uprooted only by those in charge of state and local governments?
These are the questions at the heart of Los Angeles Alliance for Human Rights v. City of Los Angeles. In 2020, a broad coalition of Angelenos impacted by homelessness filed the action. The plaintiffs included homeless people, business owners, and others. Their lawsuit challenges the resignation and helplessness many of us feel when we walk past tent cities in the middle of the richest nation on earth.”