Federal Judge David O. Carter, a Vietnam veteran, ruled against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on September 6, 2024, and “shamed” the VA for failing to build enough homes for approximately 3,000 homeless veterans in West Los Angeles.
Judge Carter also ruled that the VA’s land leases with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA); the private Brentwood School, an oil driller and a parking lot operator were illegal and must be vacated.
In 1888, the 388-acre parcel in question was gifted to the nation for the sole purpose of the construction of a “soldiers’ home” for disabled volunteer service members.
However, instead of constructing housing for homeless veterans, VA officials illegally leased the land to UCLA (to build a baseball field); and to the private Brentwood School (to construct a football field, several tennis courts, and a large swimming pool.)
Judge David O. Carter – a 124-page ruling in a lawsuit brought by several homeless veterans – ordered the VA to build about 2,500 temporary and permanent units of housing on the land.
In 2022, a group of disabled veterans experiencing homelessness filed a complaint over the lack of housing on the campus near the affluent neighborhoods of Brentwood and Westwood.
In 2024, a group of disabled veterans sued the VA, demanding the federal agency build more housing, and build it faster. The plaintiffs demanded the VA terminate the leases with leaseholders who do not use the land to “principally benefit” veterans.
Brentwood School, which spent about $1 million more lobbying to keep the leases in force, does grant limited access to the facilities to veterans at certain times of the day.
The Brentwood School said after Judge Carter’s ruling was announced, that its lease complies with federal law, according to a 2016 West LA leasing act.
“While we are still examining the full implications of the ruling,” a spokesman for Brentwood School said, “it would be a significant loss for many veterans if the extensive services we provide were eliminated.”
But, Judge Carter ruled, that the current acreage is principally for the benefit of students at the school and not veterans.
Currently, there are just 233 permanent housing units in VA buildings on the land, most of which are occupied, according to Judge Carter.
“This nation cannot genuinely hold itself out as the home of the brave so long as the brave do not have a home,” Mark Rosenbaum, the lead counsel for the disabled veterans.
The Judge’s ruling meant that more homeless veterans could move off the streets and the neediest among them could access the medical facilities available on the agency’s West Los Angeles campus.
“Each administration since 2011 has been warned — by the VA’s own Office of the Inspector General, federal courts, and veterans — that they were not doing enough to house veterans in Los Angeles,” Judge Carter wrote in his ruling.
The court system will determine exit strategies for the Brentwood School and UCLA leases following a hearing later this month. The VA did not say how it would disengage from the leases nor how much it would cost.
“Today marks the first step on the long road of getting that land back to its intended purpose,” said Rob Reynolds, an Iraq War veteran and advocate. “As a soldiers’ home for disabled veterans.”
“Over the past five decades, the West LA VA has been infected by bribery, corruption, and the influence of the powerful.” Judge Carter said the VA has broken previous promises to build housing and, “The cost of the VA’s inaction is veterans’ lives.”
Judge Carter made remarks about Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden: “Each promised that they would act swiftly to eradicate veteran homelessness in America. Yet today, approximately 3,000 homeless veterans live in the Los Angeles area alone.”
My Opinion: Now homeless veterans, in the West Los Angeles area, will be having an opportunity to live in peace and dignity instead of living in the streets and alleyways.
Judge Carter’s ruling ordered the VA to build 750 temporary housing units within 12 to 18 months —- and gave the VA six (6) months to plan another 1,800 units of permanent housing.
But who is Judge David Ormon Carter? Judge Carter is a United States Marine, who fought in the Battle of Khe Sanh and received a Bronze Star for Valor in 1968. He was medically discharged as a First Lieutenant, after receiving a Purple Heart.
During the bench trial, the 80-year-old judge led lawyers and others on a 10-mile, pre-dawn hike around the entire 388-acre campus asking questions concerning the potential for homeless veterans housing, such as on the Brentwood School’s baseball field.
But the battle for veterans’ housing at the site is not over yet. Neither are the future investigations of why the Department of Veterans Affairs entered into illegal leases for land that was originally mandated for homeless veteran housing!
Judge Carter was extremely blunt in his ruling: Over the past five decades, “The West LA VA has been infected by bribery, corruption, and the influence of the powerful.”
Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) in the West Los Angeles area should be vigilant and back the homeless veterans in their fight for housing.
BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran who served from 1967 to 1999. He is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio’s Hospital Chairman and Adjutant of Chapter #63 (Clermont County). He can be contacted at: plahovinsak@msn.com.