Miguel Colon, 25, homeless in Brockton most of his life, huddles with companions and tries to cover up as much as possible to stay warm while sheltering under the Cresent Street Bridge in downtown Brockton on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Colon shared his thoughts of the mayoral veto of homeless camping and loitering restrictions that was overridden by the Brockton City Council the previous day.
Los Angeles, California – A federal judge issued a scathing ruling Tuesday against the City of Los Angeles, finding that officials repeatedly failed to meet the terms of a court settlement meant to address the city’s worsening homelessness crisis. The 62-page opinion, written by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, outlines four major breaches of the agreement and demands increased transparency, stronger oversight, and quarterly court hearings to monitor progress.
“When the system fails, people die,” Carter wrote, noting that nearly seven unhoused individuals die each day in Los Angeles County — a figure he called a moral indictment of city leadership. The ruling stems from a years-long lawsuit brought by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition of downtown business and property owners who say the city’s handling of homelessness is inadequate and opaque.
The city had agreed to create 12,915 new shelter beds by June 2027. But the court found that Los Angeles not only failed to provide a concrete plan for reaching that goal, it also consistently missed milestones, misrepresented progress, and withheld data critical to evaluating its efforts.
Carter stopped short of placing the city’s homelessness spending under the control of a court-appointed receiver — an extraordinary measure that remains on the table should compliance continue to falter. Instead, he ordered stepped-up monitoring, granting a court-appointed official full access to the data behind the city’s homelessness reports. The monitor will present quarterly findings at public hearings, beginning in November.
While the judge emphasized that these steps are intended to assist, not punish, city officials, the ruling delivers a stark message: promises must translate into tangible results. Carter criticized the city’s reliance on last-minute declarations and inflated figures, writing that “the truth of reported progress remains clouded by evasive recordkeeping.”
The court’s ruling also shines a light on broader issues of accountability. Carter cited LAist’s investigative reporting, which revealed discrepancies in the city’s claims around housing subsidies — including instances of double-counting — and noted how city officials resisted transparency until compelled by court or media scrutiny.
“These failures have undermined public trust and judicial trust alike,” Carter wrote. “That neglect carries real consequences, borne most heavily by those with the least.”
Attorney Matthew Umhofer, representing the L.A. Alliance, called the decision a “win for the people of L.A.,” particularly those experiencing homelessness. He urged the city to stop fighting the court and start fulfilling its obligations.
The ruling paints a deeply troubling picture: a city awash in resources, yet unable — or unwilling — to deliver on the basic promise of shelter for its most vulnerable residents.
