LA says Judge Carter echoed advocacy brief in homelessness contempt fight

The City of Los Angeles blasted a federal judge in an objection filed Monday, suggesting that opening remarks he made in a contempt hearing over the city's homelessness response were lifted directly from a motion filed by the opposing counsel.

The objection comes as the city faces a potential contempt ruling by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter for failing to meet homeless reduction benchmarks it agreed to in a settlement with advocacy group L.A. Alliance for Human Rights.

At the beginning of the contempt proceedings, Monday's objection claimed, "The court read opening remarks that purported to describe the city's alleged conduct leading to the hearing. In doing so, the court appears to have recited largely verbatim the facts alleged in the Alliance's February 2024 Motion for Settlement Compliance and Sanctions--without disclosing that it was doing that."

As proceedings continued Tuesday, Carter repeatedly overruled objections by the city's counsel, who also objected generally to questions pertaining to matters the city claimed had already been settled in a previous stipulation.