City of Fresno served with federal lawsuit, officials vow to defend 'anti-camping' ordinance

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The City of Fresno faces a national suit arsenic unhoused nonmigratory Wickey Twohands claims the metropolis has criminalized homelessness.

"Those claims see disablement discrimination, property discrimination, usurpation of adjacent protection," lawyer Kevin Little told Action News connected Friday. He represents Twohands and the different plaintiff, Joseph Quinney.

At contented is simply a 2024 ordinance that bans unhoused radical from camping successful nationalist spaces.

Twohands and Quinney are present seeking monetary damages.

"We privation change. People are suffering and dying connected our streets," Little said. "We conscionable can't proceed to basal by and effort to enforce radical retired of existence."

The suit comes arsenic the California Highway Patrol confirms 2 radical died overnight arsenic they fell dormant with a warming occurrence and ran retired of oxygen.

"We bash not privation radical to stay connected the streets," Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said. "It's not the close situation for them, particularly successful this acold weather."

Dyer told Action News that the metropolis has 40 radical assigned to an outreach team.

"We spouse with the Poverello House, reaching out, offering services to those folks," helium said. "We ever person structure beds available."

But advocates for the unhoused item the caller closure of an exigency structure connected Blackstone Avenue, claiming ongoing conversations with the metropolis person not been productive.

"Unfortunately, we felt the suit was important and possibly a mode of forcing the metropolis to prosecute america successful a dialogue," Little said.

The metropolis has been done this before. Action News was determination successful 2006 arsenic Pamela Kincaid sued the City of Fresno aft employees destroyed an encampment.

"All my possessions were taken, including my documents, my ID - everything," she said astatine the time.

Kincaid aboriginal won.

"And adjacent still, thing has changed," Little said arsenic helium spoke astir the caller litigation.

Little personally served the suit to metropolis officials connected Friday.

City Attorney Andrew Janz did not respond to Action News' petition for remark connected Friday, but issued a connection connected Thursday.

"I look guardant to taking this lawsuit to the Supreme Court," helium wrote, successful part. "The municipal instrumentality passed by the Fresno City Council does not punish lodging status, conscionable behavior."

"We person a situation here," Little said. "It's not the unhoused who deficiency the wherewithal. It's the metropolis that lacks the wherewithal."

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