U.S. Senior District Judge Edward Chen advanced civil rights claims against the city of Berkeley by a class of disabled homeless people who say the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Constitution when it cleared a large homeless encampment and destroyed their property, Courthouse News reports. In a 53-page order issued late Tuesday, Chen found the plaintiffs had adequately shown the city regularly destroys their property, ranging from personal belongings to RVs, without due process. The plaintiffs are seven homeless individuals and the homeless advocacy organization Where Do We Go Berkeley.
“The city has a pattern of destroying plaintiffs and class members’ property during abatements and closures, even when faced with individuals making legitimate claims of possessory interest in the property and protesting its seizure and destruction. On some occasions, the items being destroyed are mobility devices like wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, and medication,” Chen wrote. In his ruling, he found the city’s conduct violates the Fourth and 14th Amendment rights of the plaintiffs. Finally, Chen found the city exposed the plaintiffs to a state-created danger because the seizures deprived them of survival gear such as warm clothing, tents, medication, wheelchairs, canes, eyeglasses and more.
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