By Yana Singhal
OAKLAND, CA – A lawsuit calling for a temporary restraining order has been filed against Caltrans on behalf of a small community of elderly and disabled tenants residing on Caltrans property at a lot adjacent to 3441 Louise St. in Oakland following the arrest of “Where Do We Go” Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel Andrea Henson Monday, according to a statement released by the nonprofit.
The plaintiffs to the lawsuit who leased the property—John Cardone, James John Cardone, Kristy Cardone, Joaquin Beza and Martha Santos—have alleged “Caltrans violated their Fourteenth Amendment due process rights to notice, grievance and appeal of the termination of tenancy.”
The plaintiffs’ statement notes, “Henson was arrested for refusing to move after locking herself to a fence at the property in question. Her demand was simply for Caltrans and CHP to allow her the time needed (which she estimated at a couple of hours) to file the lawsuit. Instead she was arrested and the suit was filed by her fellow civil rights attorney Osha Neumann.”
Attorney Neumann added, “Caltrans was required to go through the court process to carry out an eviction and they didn’t do that, instead they blatantly ignored the law,” much as, Neumann claimed, “an executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom to remove all homeless encampments in the State of California.”
The group said that “no outreach was done so attorneys discovered that these were tenants. Newsom’s reign of terror begins when Caltrans and State Agencies are instructed to sweep and remove individuals without speaking to them. If the government refuses to do outreach then anyone can be swept, removed and have their property seized.
“The most vulnerable in our state are protected by the United States and California Constitutions. Caltrans cannot be allowed to be above the law and conduct removals however they see fit without following the law.”
