A federal appeals panel ruled Monday, Oct. 26, that Berkeley can finish closing the Harrison Street encampment because leptospirosis has been found nearby. The court granted the city's request for a stay pending appeal in part and denied the rest without prejudice, according to the order filed in Berkeley Homeless Union v. City of Berkeley.
"Even on an incomplete record, we are persuaded that the City must be able to clear the Harrison Encampment because of the public health risk posed by leptospirosis," the judges wrote. The Berkeley Scanner reports that the city has found the potentially deadly bacterial disease in rats and two dogs in the neighborhood, and that a man with leptospirosis who lived not far from the camp died. The order says the disease was first detected in the camp in winter 2025.
What the ruling leaves in place
Berkeley cleared much of the camp in September, but U.S. District Judge Edward Chen had blocked it from removing some residents who had asked for disability accommodations. The city also asked the panel to suspend Chen's broader requirements, which the city said had grown beyond Harrison. The majority declined, noting that during a July hearing Chen had warned his ruling would apply "throughout the city" and the city had not objected. Berkeley can raise the issue at a hearing before Chen on Oct. 29, and broader arguments are set for February.
A sharp dissent
Judge Patrick Bumatay wrote a 56-page partial dissent to go with the 17-page majority ruling. He argued that the court should have suspended Chen's broader restrictions and that the district court had "weaponized the Americans with Disabilities Act." "Berkeley's efforts face the ongoing threat of paralysis by judicial fiat," he wrote.
The Berkeley Homeless Union is the plaintiff. Neither the city nor the union had commented when the Scanner published.