Appeals court extends stay of judges order to build veterans housing

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, right, tours Jackie Robinson Stadium on Aug. 21, 2024, in West Los Angeles. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has extended its stay of a judge’s order to build housing on the VA’s West Los Angeles campus, setting an expedited April hearing for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ appeal. The order issued Monday night ends U.S. District Judge David O. Carter’s fervently pursued goal to have as many as 200 units of the temporary housing opened by early next year. The VA appealed in October Carter’s sweeping order that it build hundreds of temporary and permanent housing units on the campus, saying that it would cause “irreparable harm” by forcing the agency to divert funds — up to $1 billion for all the housing — from crucial services to veterans. In the weeks since issuing his judgment, Carter incessantly pushed VA officials and the veteran plaintiffs’ housing experts to quickly produce modular units on the parking lot of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson stadium and other vacant parcels on the campus.