Santa Ana to Pursue Cases Against Homeless Encampments : Law: Prosecutors begin reviewing 2-year-old misdemeanor charges against dozens of men and women who were sleeping in the Civic Center. State high court recently upheld the city’s camping ordinance.

Up to 80 homeless men and women moved a step closer to trial Thursday, two years after they were cited under a Santa Ana anti-camping ordinance that was recently upheld by the California Supreme Court.

Municipal Judge Gregory H. Lewis set a June 21 pretrial hearing for the defendants, an action that comes about a week after the high court decision upholding the constitutionality of the camping ordinance became final.

The misdemeanor charges against the homeless had been pending the outcome of the ruling, which was announced in April but finalized days ago.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. E. Thomas Dunn Jr., who defended the ordinance before the Supreme Court, said prosecutors are reviewing the cases and probably will keep costs in mind when pursuing those cited for camping.

Last month, the district attorney’s office announced it would no longer prosecute lesser misdemeanor offenses, such as trespassing and disturbing the peace, because of bankruptcy-related cutbacks. But that policy does not apply retroactively, Dunn said.

Defense attorneys representing some of the homeless said they will seek dismissal of the charges, basing their arguments on a technical interpretation of what constitutes camping.

Lloyd A. Charton and Brett J. Williamson, two of the attorneys who appeared in court Thursday, said their clients were sleeping outdoors in the Civic Center--not camping.

They said the difference is that their clients did not actually erect structures or intend to make the Civic Center their home.

On a 6-1 vote, the high court held that Santa Ana’s 1992 law, one of the toughest in the nation, does not violate the constitutional rights of the homeless and that cities can prosecute people for using a sleeping bag or blanket on public property.

The ruling overturned a lower-court decision that said the ordinance was cruel and unusual punishment.

The camping ordinance had been challenged on the grounds that it violated the right to travel, punished people on the basis of their status and was vague.

The Santa Ana law makes it a crime punishable by up to six months in jail to use a sleeping bag or blanket or to store personal effects on public sidewalks, streets, parking lots and government malls.