SAN DIEGO -- A local church is taking the city of El Cajon, Calif., to court after its council stopped the church's plan to open a homeless shelter on its own property.
According to San Diego Union-Tribune, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court claims city officials violated the civil and constitutional rights of St. Alban's Episcopal Church by refusing to let it feed and shelter the homeless.
Attorney Scott Dreher filed the lawsuit a week after the council stopped a church plan to use portable classrooms as a temporary shelter. In the past, the church has allowed dozens of homeless families to camp on church property.
City Attorney Morgan Foley told the Union-Tribune he had not seen Conrad's lawsuit, but that he had been ordered by the city council to get a court injunction against the church for health and safety violations. He said he will seek a Superior Court injunction sometime this week because of indecent exposure and intoxication at the homeless camp.
