Category Archives: Lawsuits

Plaintiffs File Opposition to City’s Motion to Dismiss, Include Certified Copy of Deed for Venice Boardwalk Proving that Abbott Kinney Gave it for Use as a Public Sidewalk and No Other Purpose

July 11, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

LAPD Bike officers on the Venice Boardwalk creating a chilling effect in the warm California sunshine.

See this earlier post for some brief background on this case and this collection of pleadings in the case.

Late last night the plaintiffs filed a searing opposition to last month’s defendants motion to dismiss. Part of the plaintiffs’ argument relies on the fact that the Boardwalk is actually a public sidewalk, and in support of that argument they also filed a request for judicial notice that included a certified copy of the deed by means of which Abbott Kinney gave the boardwalk to the City (of Ocean Park; Los Angeles didn’t get it until 1926). To understand the issues it may be useful to look at the text of LAMC §42.15.

The issue is whether or not the Boardwalk is a public forum. If it is, the First Amendment places a very, very high barrier before the City’s attempt to regulate speech there at all. Sidewalks, as opposed to City-sponsored Disneylandesque bullshit tourist-trap money magnets, are quintessential public forums,¹ and this is the heart of the argument:²
The Venice Boardwalk is a traditional public forum long recognized by the City as perhaps the most prominent free speech area in the City. Although called a “boardwalk,” this pedestrian passageway is a public sidewalk, deeded to the City as a sidewalk in perpetuity in 1906. See Plaintiffs’ Request for Judicial Notice and Exhibit 1.

Public sidewalks “occupy a ‘special position in terms of First Amendment protection’ because of their historic role as sites for discussion and debate[.]” They are the locations where people encounter speech they “might otherwise tune out.” “From time immemorial,” public sidewalks have been locations where “normal conversation and leafleting” have occurred as part of the First Amendment’s guarantee of “sharing ideas.” Indeed, public sidewalks are, perhaps, the most important traditional public forum because of their availability at any time at no cost.

It’s worth reading the whole response, and some selections that caught my eye appear after the break.
Continue reading Plaintiffs File Opposition to City’s Motion to Dismiss, Include Certified Copy of Deed for Venice Boardwalk Proving that Abbott Kinney Gave it for Use as a Public Sidewalk and No Other Purpose →

Lawsuits

Hearing on City of LA’s Motion to Clarify Otero’s Injunction Postponed Again, Now Scheduled for August 15 at 10 am

June 30, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

(See Gale Holland’s excellent story in the Times on Mitchell v. LA as well as our other stories on the subject for the background to this post).

Recall that in April, Judge Otero issued an injunction in relation to the confiscation of the property of homeless people on Skid Row. The City of Los Angeles, meanwhile, professes not to understand the injunction and has filed a motion for clarification of the order. A scheduled hearing on this motion was postponed once and today all parties filed a joint stipulation asking for another postponement and the Judge filed an order granting the request. The hearing is now scheduled for Monday, August 15, at 10 a.m. in Otero’s courtroom downtown.³ The stated reason is that productive mediation in front of Magistrate Judge Carla Woehrle is both fruitful and ongoing.

Lawsuits

City of LA Needs More Time to Consider Proposed Settlement in Street Vending Lawsuit, so Parties Request Rescheduling of Conference

June 21, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

A request to reschedule the settlement conference in the Street Vendors v. City of LA and the Fashion District BID just hit PACER. A settlement conference was scheduled for tomorrow before magistrate judge Charles Eick, but:

The Defendant City of Los Angeles advised Plaintiffs’ counsel earlier today that the City needs additional time to consider the revised settlement proposal by the Plaintiffs.

The request states that the earliest possible time for the rescheduled conference would be July 18, 2016, but that the Fashion District BID’s lawyer hasn’t gotten back to everyone with confirmation that this date will suit. If you’ve been following the story, you may remember that July 18th is also the date that Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell shifted the defendants’ response deadline to, so something’s got to give.

Announcements, Lawsuits

Answer to Chua v. City of L.A. Filed, Court Orders Scheduling Conference for September 12, 2016

June 16, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

See this article from the LA Times and our previous post on the subject for the background to this post.

On June 1 the City of Los Angeles filed its response to the the initial complaint. I don’t have much to say about it. They deny everything and put forth a few affirmative defenses which all pretty much amount to “they didn’t actually accuse us of anything so we must not have done it.” Also, in some other routine news, Judge John Kronstadt issued an order just today setting a scheduling conference for September 12 at 1:30 p.m.⁴ This doesn’t mean much, except I think once this conference is set up the parties are meant to get serious about discovery, which, at least in the last few federal cases I’ve been following, has been an exciting time pleadingswise.
Continue reading Answer to Chua v. City of L.A. Filed, Court Orders Scheduling Conference for September 12, 2016 →

Lawsuits

City of Los Angeles to Pay Almost a Million Dollars, Half to Carol Sobel, in Lavan Case and also Pete White and Hamid Khan v. City of LA

June 15, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Carol Sobel (on right) is making a good living forcing the City of Los Angeles to pay for its nasty addiction to tormenting the homeless. Have they hit bottom yet? It doesn't look like it. — Carol Sobel (on right) is making a good living forcing the City of Los Angeles to pay for its nasty addiction to tormenting the homeless. Have they hit bottom yet? It doesn’t look like it.

According to an excellent article in yesterday’s Times by the incomparable Emily Alpert Reyes, the City Council agreed to pay out $947,000 in settlements in two cases brought by civil rights lawyer Carol Sobel. The article didn’t have much detail on either the cases or where the money was going, so I thought I’d fill some of it in here.

The first case is Lavan v. City of Los Angeles. I reported last December that this case seemed to be nearing settlement, and there was more news on this in March. Well, yesterday the Council approved Motion 16-0397, which authorizes the payment of $322,000 to Carol Sobel in legal fees and $500,000 for other purposes which aren’t clear from the motion. Nothing has hit PACER yet, so I don’t know how to get the rest of the story, but you’ll see it here as soon as I get some. You may want to subscribe to the Council file to keep up to date.

The second case is really interesting, and I haven’t written on it before. Evidently, in 2005 the Central City East Association began sponsoring tours of Skid Row for “…public officials, law enforcement, members of the judiciary, students, academics, local business owners, social service providers, and the media” so they can “…see for themselves and learn about the challenges, not through a windshield, but from the experience of walking through [Skid Row] and interacting with social service representatives, police, residents and business owners.”⁵ (Here is the 9th Circuit opinion on which this summary is based).
Continue reading City of Los Angeles to Pay Almost a Million Dollars, Half to Carol Sobel, in Lavan Case and also Pete White and Hamid Khan v. City of LA →

Lawsuits, Venice

Venice Justice Committee v. City of Los Angeles

June 6, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

If you've ever seen someone you loved deeply lying dead and embalmed in a casket, covered with makeup and looking like a freaking wax dummy you'll have some idea how this photograph makes me feel. — If you’ve ever seen someone you loved deeply lying dead and embalmed in a casket, covered with makeup and looking like a freaking wax dummy you’ll have some idea how this photograph makes me feel.

I didn’t mention it at the time, but in February of this year, the heroic Carol Sobel filed suit on behalf of American heroine Peggy Lee Kennedy and the Venice Justice Committee against the City of Los Angeles for yet another set of bullshit shenanigans at the beach, this time to do with the LAPD arresting people for handing out pamplets while seated at a table after sunset in a “Designated space.”⁶ At that time I started collecting the documents from PACER and putting them in a directory here but I didn’t write a post or even put a page in the menu structure for it (although I have done so now), because it’s a little off-topic. Anyway, today the City of Los Angeles filed a motion to dismiss and it made me so mad I thought I’d initiate some coverage here. I’m still too mad to explain why I’m mad, but at some point in the future I’ll actually discuss the substance of the case. No mainstream media seems to be covering this matter, and even the Beachhead doesn’t have much, so I guess it must be up to me. More reasons after the break.
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Lawsuits

City of LA Files Answer in Mitchell, Hearing on Order to Clarify Injunction Postponed to July 25

June 3, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

City of LA's cut and paste response to Mitchell complaint. TL;DR: Either we didn't do it or they didn't say we did so we don't even have to say we didn't. — City of LA’s cut and paste response to Mitchell complaint. TL;DR: Either we didn’t do it or they didn’t say we did so we don’t even have to say we didn’t.

(See Gale Holland’s excellent story in the Times on Mitchell v. LA as well as our other stories on the subject for the background to this post).

On May 20⁷ the City of Los Angeles filed its response to the complaint in Mitchell v. Los Angeles. It’s 13 pages of unenlightening denial, punctuated only with an occasional “they didn’t accuse us of anything so we’re not even gonna deny it” moment. Also, the parties are negotiating something, and evidently it’s going well, so yesterday they jointly asked the judge to put off the hearing on the City’s motion for a clarification of Otero’s injunction against the City. Well, evidently they showed good reason, because today Otero filed an order granting the continuance and that hearing is now scheduled for July 25.
Continue reading City of LA Files Answer in Mitchell, Hearing on Order to Clarify Injunction Postponed to July 25 →

Lawsuits

Settlement Talks in Street Vending Lawsuit Seem to be On Track; Judge O’Connell Extends Response Deadline to July 18

May 27, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Pico and Santee. — Pico Blvd. and Santee Street.

Recall that there is a settlement conference in the street vending lawsuit scheduled for June 22, 2016. Today the parties filed a joint stipulation asking the judge to give the defendants more time to respond. The reason given is:

The parties have made substantial progress in settlement discussions: they have held two settlement conferences with Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick and have scheduled a third settlement conference for June 22, 2016;

On April 11, 2016, the Court granted the Fourth Stipulation filed by the parties to extend the time to file responsive pleadings to the Complaint, with the current extension set to expire on June 1, 2016.

This was evidently good enough for Judge O’Connell, who, roughly contemporaneously, filed an order granting the request by extending the deadline to July 18. So that’s where we’re at with the street vending suit; another quiet month.
Continue reading Settlement Talks in Street Vending Lawsuit Seem to be On Track; Judge O’Connell Extends Response Deadline to July 18 →

Lawsuits

Settlement Almost Finalized in LA Catholic Worker, LA CAN v. City of LA, Central City East Association

May 26, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Recall that, towards the end of March of this year, the parties to this case began making noises about a potential settlement. This evening, all parties to the suit, begun in 2014, filed a Joint Progress Report on the Status of Potential Settlement. They evidently reached a tentative agreement on April 5, and, according to this status report:

The parties have been diligently working to draft the final terms and language of the settlement agreement and to obtain approval from all parties to finalize the agreement.

The parties remain confident that they will be able to reach final agreement on all matters and will be able to obtain approval from all parties to settle this matter in its entirety.

They promise to update the court on the status of this settlement on July 26, 2016.

Lawsuits

Street Vendors v. Fashion District BID et al. Settlement Conference Scheduled for June 22, 2016

May 23, 2016 Mike Leave a comment

Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell filed an order today in Santiago et al. v. Fashion District BID et al. setting a settlement conference to convene on Wednesday, June 22 in front of magistrate judge Charles Eick. These things are surely top secret, so there’s nothing to report or to attend, but I thought I’d drop the filing on you. It suggests that nothing much is going to happen in this case for a few weeks, anyway.