Chiu alleges that the Coalition on Homelessness, a homeless advocacy group, has backtracked on their concessions regarding a preliminary injunction that bars the city from conducting homeless sweeps.
Last week, both the City of San Francisco and the Coalition presented their sides in front of a panel of judges with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 2022, a federal judge ruled that the city could not enforce homeless sweeps against "involuntarily" homeless people while San Francisco still has a shortage of shelter beds available. Prohibiting sleeping on the streets when people do not have other options is "cruel and unusual" punishment under the Eighth Amendment, ruled U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu.
For Chiu, the heart of the case lies in the definition of "involuntarily homeless." He alleged that during oral arguments, the plaintiffs appeared to agree with the city that those who refuse shelter are not considered involuntarily homeless.
In his notice, he alleges that during an effort to memorialize these statements made during oral arguments, plaintiffs would not write them on paper.
Zal Shroff, attorney for the Coalition and interim legal director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, considered the filing to be "yet another attempt at political theatre."