Elizabeth Williams has been homeless since 2014, and after two encampment sweeps last year in which the city threw out almost all of her belongings, she sued in small claims court for $12,000 in lost property and emotional damages. Last month, a judge ruled against her.
The Sacramento Bee attended both evidentiary hearings in the case; read through all court filings by Williams, the city and the judge; and reviewed hours of police bodycam footage of the sweeps that Sacramento submitted as evidence in the case.
The documents and evidence from Williams’ case provided insight into a kind of contradiction: Officers are tasked with policing the trappings of homelessness even though being homeless is technically not a crime. Individuals face criminal citations and prosecutions over living outside, and personal property that’s stored in public is frequently destroyed…