A mixed bag in a new legal ruling about a big and contentious Berkeley homeless encampment, as a judge says the encampment can be swept, but people with disabilities camping there are allowed to stay put and leave their stuff.

From the looks of this Google Street View image of a certain North Berkeley encampment captured in August 2024, the encampment was indeed quite sprawling, taking up a whole city block and definitely strewn with a substantial amount of trash. That specific encampment was named in a lawsuit from last September from nearby businesses demanding the city clear it, since Berkeley had the legal authority to do so from the then-recent Grants Pass v Johnson Supreme Court decision.

So Berkeley did get around to posting notices in January that they intended to clear the encampment, but the Berkeley Homeless Union brought a lawsuit, and got a restraining order preventing the sweep. That restraining order expired in late May, but the case’s US District Court Judge Edward Chen temporarily halted that sweep again last week.

Now that temporary halt has also expired, and Berkeleyside reports that Judge Chen’s new ruling this week was that the encampment could be cleared, but with the exception that people with disabilities could still stay.

Before you label this as Bizerkeley political correctness run amok, realize this ruling came from Judge Chen’s federal courtroom in San Francisco, where the case is being heard. And it’s not a permanent stay for those individuals with disabilities, just a two-month reprieve for those with qualifying disabilities.

Berkeleyside reports that there are 19 disabled camp residents, and Chen’s ruling says that the two-month delay is a reasonable accommodation for them under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

While the encampment was mostly cleared last week, Berkeleyside reported last Thursday that most of the booted campers simply moved their stuff right back and set up camp again. The encampment site has long been a source of complaints from businesses, nearby residents, and the City of Berkeley for its fires, drug use, trash, human waste, and alleged illegal activity.

For their part, the City of Berkeley admits they do not have available beds at their current ‘homeless hotels’ and shelters, and that they cannot currently offer other accommodations. But that Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling says that cities no longer need to offer shelter accommodations before clearing encampments.

Related: Even In Liberal Berkeley, Aggressive Encampment Sweeps Set to Begin [SFist]

Image: Google Street View