The claims period for the Lehr versus the City of Sacramento class action lawsuit is now closed. One thousand four hundred claims were submitted while the claims period was open from March through June 8, 2012. Now the claims administrator, Gilardi & Co. LLC, is processing all the forms, attorneys for both sides will need to review the claims and come to an agreement on what claims will be approved for compensation. There is no way to know how long this process will last but I’m hoping checks may be ready for distribution in August.
This case, originally filed in court by Mark Merin in 2007, sought to compensate homeless people who had their meager possessions confiscated and destroyed by Sacramento City and County law enforcement. Sacramento County settled out of court a couple years ago, resulting in compensating the homeless population for their losses from County Rangers and Sheriff’s work crews. The City would not settle and so their case went to court and was won by plaintiffs in May of 2011.
Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee helped to distribute claim forms, helped people who had difficulty filling out the forms on their own, and posted notices. SHOC was originally an organizational plaintiff but was excluded from the case along with the request for redressing the unjust city camping ordinance. We must recognize that winning this class action lawsuit goes a long way towards justice for the homeless population of Sacramento, and that Attorneys Mark Merin, Cathleen Williams and Ronald Blubaugh are Homeless Justice Heros!
Mark Merin, Cathleen Williams, and Ron and Carola Blubaugh. Mark, Cathleen and Ron received the Sacramento Housing Alliance Homeless Justice Award for winning the Lehr case for homeless people in Sacramento.
