FRESNO (KMJ) — This week’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, stating that prosecution of homeless people who have no where else to go as unconstitutional, has been slammed by Fresno City Councilman Steve Brandau.
The change bans the arrest of people sleeping on the streets when there is no bed available to transfer them to, deeming it cruel and unusual punishment. It means changes will have to be made to the City of Fresno’s no camping ordinance, also known as the “Unhealthy and Hazardous Camping Act.”
“My understanding from the city attorney is we’re on safe grounds now, but it could be improved if we changed the language a little bit,” said District 2’s Steve Brandau. The Councilman was the driving force behind the ordinance’s introduction in August 2017 (click here to read more).
“It will basically say if there are no open beds then nobody could be arrested for violating the no camping ordinance. So Fresno PD would find out if there are beds available. If they are available, which a lot of times there are, then the full camping ordinance could be in effect.
“If there’s no beds available they would not be able to arrest anybody at that time.”
But Councilman Brandau did not hold back criticism of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s Tuesday decision.
“The Ninth Circuit is once again out of touch with the lives of a lot of the citizens it oversees. I wish they lived in the streets of Fresno and had to deal with a lot of the things that we have to deal with.
“Myself as a Councilmember, I have to deal with a lot of phone calls concerning homelessness.”
The ruling is not expected to bring an immediate change in the City of Fresno. Alterations to the no camping ordinance are expected to be made at an upcoming Fresno City Council meeting.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
