A federal judge correctly invalidated the leases of a private school and an oil drilling well on the US
Department of Veterans Affairs’ Los Angeles campus, but was wrong to touch the lease for UCLA’s
baseball stadium, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled.
The judges in a mixed ruling upheld much of US District Judge David Carter’s ruling in a case brought
by a class of disabled, homeless veterans against the VA over the use of its land. They agreed with
Carter on the broad strokes of his decision—that the VA was failing to provide veterans with access
to the medical care they need, and that it leased its land irresponsibly and at points unlawfully.
“This class action lawsuit, and its numerous appeals, demonstrates just how far the VA has strayed
from its mission” to care for veterans and their family, caregivers, and survivors said the Tuesday
opinion authored by Judge Ana de Alba and joined by Judges Consuelo Callahan and Roopali Desai,
“There are now scores of unhoused veterans trying to survive in and around the greater Los Angeles
area despite the acres of land deeded to the VA for their care.”