Santa Ana Limited in Use of Old Law Against Homeless : Court: Judge rules that 19th-Century state anti-lodging law does not apply to people sleeping outdoors. The city’s own anti-camping ordinance has been suspended.

A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that the city of Santa Ana could not use a law dating back to the late 1800s to cite homeless people who sleep outdoors in the Civic Center area.

Judge Robert J. Polis issued the preliminary argument against the city after listening to three hours of argument from attorneys for the city and the Legal Aid Society, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the homeless.

Earlier this month, Polis issued a temporary restraining order against the city, prohibiting its police force from using the old state anti-lodging law to cite homeless people found sleeping in the Civic Center.

Originally drafted to curb squatting in the Old West, the state’s anti-lodging law had been used by Santa Ana police while an appellate court reviewed the city’s anti-camping ordinance, which critics have challenged as unconstitutional.

Polis said Friday that the city could only use the anti-lodging law to cite homeless people who sleep in structures--like the parking garages and government buildings in the Civic Center area.

But the law does not cover homeless people who sleep outdoors, Polis said, insisting that the law was meant to be applied only to people who occupied structures.

William Wise, a Legal Aid Society attorney, described the ruling as a victory for the homeless. “We’re very pleased,” he said. “We think it’s the right thing. It’s what the law calls for.”

City Atty. Edward J. Cooper said that city officials do not agree with the decision but plan “to closely examine the issue” Monday before deciding if they should appeal.

Advocates for the homeless say that hundreds of people live in the Civic Center area.

The Legal Aid Society’s lawyers said the city had been unfairly using the state law--which bars people from setting up semi-permanent lodging in public areas--against the homeless since the city was ordered to stop enforcing its own anti-camping ordinance in June.

Use of the city’s anti-camping ordinance, most of which has been upheld by a Superior Court judge, has been suspended while a separate Legal Aid Society lawsuit works its way through an appeals court.

Prosecution of homeless people under the city’s ordinance was also halted until the appeals court decides if the local camping ban is unconstitutional.

Under the state’s anti-lodging law, one man was cited while he was lying down in the Civic Center area and reading a book at night. Another was ticketed while trying to sleep on the ground near the state government building in the same area, and a third was cited while waiting for a ride to a homeless shelter.