Opinion
22-cv-04669-RS
08-15-2022
DENIS BLAIKE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DINA EL TIWANSY, et al., Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
RICHARD SEEBORG CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiffs, homeless individuals at an encampment under Highway 101 in San Rafael, known as the Service Support Area, seek a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) against agencies and officials of the State of California and City of San Rafael. Upon review of the complaint, motion for TRO, and supporting exhibits, Plaintiffs have met the standard for temporary relief that preserves the status quo until the defendants can appear and be heard; the motion for a TRO is GRANTED. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(b); Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Cottrell, 632 F.3d 1127, 1132 (9th Cir. 2011). Because of the abrupt timeline on which notice appears to have been given to the Plaintiffs and the imminence of the closure (tomorrow at 7:30 am), this TRO will issue without notice. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(b)(1). Its terms appear at the end of this Order.
The Clerk of the Court shall immediately issue summonses for all Defendants and the U.S. Marshal shall immediately serve a copy of the summons, complaint, motion for a TRO, and this Order on all defendants. Separately, the Clerk of the Court shall immediately, no later than 5:00 p.m. today, electronically serve a copy of this Order, the complaint, and the motion for a TRO, on the Attorney General of the State of California at AGelectronicservice@doj.ca.gov and upon an appropriate email address for San Rafael. Because Plaintiffs are proceeding pro se and have moved to proceed in forma pauperis, each defendant that receives notice of this suit (in any manner) is ORDERED to immediately contact counsel for the remaining defendants and provide notice of the suit.
Because Plaintiffs had not served Defendants, and in light of the expedited timeline necessary to issue this order, the court makes a record that it contacted two attorneys listed on Plaintiffs' Complaint, alerting them to the Complaint and motion for a TRO and asking for a brief ex parte response as to whether they planned to clear the encampment by tomorrow. Counsel for Defendants responded; counsel for San Rafael affirmed that it would provide a copy of its response to Plaintiffs, and counsel for Caltrans are directed to do so as well.
A hearing as to whether to maintain the TRO pending determination about the issuance of a preliminary injunction is set for Friday, August 19, 2022, at 3:00 p.m.; the hearing will take place by videoconference. Defendants may file responsive briefs of no more than 15 pages by 12:00 pm on August 17. The defendants are encouraged to file their response jointly to the extent it is appropriate. The briefing will solely address whether a TRO should remain in place until a decision on a preliminary injunction can be made. A briefing schedule on a preliminary injunction will be set, if appropriate, at the hearing.
Instructions for attending and participating in the videoconference are available at: https://cand.uscourts.gov/judges/seeborg-richard-rs/
TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
This TRO applies to the named defendants; their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and persons who are in active concert or participation with the foregoing individuals and entities. These individuals and entities are hereby RESTRAINED from proceeding with planned removal of persons, personal possessions, and structures from the San Rafael Highway 101 Service Support Area encampment; closing the encampment; or otherwise removing homeless individuals from said encampment. This TRO does not prohibit particularized removals or other actions that are unrelated to the planned closure of the encampment (such as lawfully removing possessions in the course of suppressing a fire or effectuating a lawful arrest for reasons unrelated to the planned closure).
IT IS SO ORDERED.