#brown-act

#brown-act

The city of Los Angeles violated the state's open meeting law when council members took up a plan to clear 9,800 homeless encampments behind closed doors, a judge ruled this week. In a 10-page decision, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Curtis Kin said the City Council ran afoul of the Ralph M. Brown Act by approving the encampment strategy during a Jan. 31, 2024, closed session.

These meetings were in violation of California's main sunshine law, the Brown Act, which prohibits discussion or action on proposed legislation - like the encampment policy - by a majority of the council, outside of a public meeting. This provision of the Brown Act is supposed to ensure that no important discussions or decisions impacting the public happen behind closed doors without allowing community members to weigh in.