Calif. Judge Blocks Raids on Homeless Camps

"When they end up on the street, they still have their family photos, they still have their grandmother's wedding ring, and those are just as precious in a tent as they are anywhere else," he said.

Clay and her husband became homeless early this year when their apartment rent got too high. They couldn't afford the deposit on a cheaper place, so they set up in the encampment, where they could still be together, she said. After the raid, they moved their tent under a freeway. But that site was raided, too, she said.

"Wherever I go as a homeless person in the city of Fresno, the city of Fresno workers, accompanied by the Fresno Police Department, will come to take and destroy my personal possessions," Clay said.

Estimates of the number of homeless living on Fresno's streets vary, with advocates saying the number tops 8,000. According to the plaintiffs, three primary homeless shelters in Fresno have room for about 225 people.

Wanger's order blocks the city from raiding tent towns and destroying homeless people's belongings until the case is resolved.

On a recent afternoon at an encampment near the Fresno Rescue Mission, a drop-in center for the homeless, several people talked about the raids, saying their prized belongings were taken even when they tried to claim them.

Pamela Kincaid, 51, another of the homeless plaintiffs, said Wednesday that she lost all her possessions in a raid but felt vindicated by Wanger's decision.

"It feels good," she said. "I already knew what was right and had hope."