LAVAN

Proceedings: (In Chambers) Order Issuing a Preliminary Injunction

Pending before the Court is this Court’s Order to Show Cause re: Issuance of a Preliminary Injunction. The Court heard argument on the matter on June 20, 2011. After considering all the evidence submitted, the papers filed in support and opposition, and the arguments offered at hearing, the Court ISSUES a preliminary injunction.

I. Background

Plaintiffs Tony Lavan, Caterius Smith, William Vassie, Ernest Seymore, Lamoen Hall, Shamal Ballantine, Byron Reese, and Regina Wilson (“Plaintiffs”) bring this putative civil-rights class action against the City of Los Angeles (the “City” or “Defendant”) asserting claims under the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, Article 1 § 7 and Article 1 § 13 of the California Constitution, California Civil Code § 52.1, California Civil Code § 2080, and common law conversion.

Plaintiffs, eight homeless individuals living in the City of Los Angeles’s “Skid Row” area, allege that since February 2011, the City, through the Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”) and Bureau of Street Services, has confiscated and destroyed the personal possessions…