Order In The Court

Last Monday, PATH board member and lawyer, Terry Bird, and Judge Michael Tynan posed for the PATH Lines magazine photo shoot at the PATH Homeless Court.

Judge Tynan, Terry Bird, and Public Counsel were instrumental in bringing the Homeless Court to PATH. Every month, Judge Tynan sets up court at the PATH Mall, where he presides over sessions that help homeless people work off their citations. In exchange for participating in a social service program, people’s records are cleared.

The Homeless Court is also linked with the downtown Los Angeles Streets or Services (SOS) program. PATH has a case worker located in the LAPD Central Division. When police officers prepare to cite a homeless person, they give that person the option of meeting with the SOS worker in order to enter a social service program. If that person finishes the service program, the citation is not processed.

The Los Angeles Times highlighted this program a couple of years ago:
SOS In LA Times