UCLA baseball team locked out of home field in lawsuit over lease involving veteran land

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The baseball program at the University of California, Los Angeles, was locked out of its home stadium on veterans’ land near the campus Thursday under an order issued by a federal judge.

The ruling late Wednesday from Judge David O. Carter prohibits UCLA from accessing Jackie Robinson Stadium and an adjacent practice field until it produces a plan that ensures service to veterans is the predominant focus of the 10-acre (4-hectare) facility leased from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Los Angeles Times reported that UCLA Chancellor Darnell Hunt appeared for a hearing during which the school’s attorney urged Carter to accept a proposal that was focused on increasing services to veterans.

“It’s more than a lease,” attorney Ray Cardozo said. “It’s a partnership. It’s a good trade-off from our perspective.”

But Carter declared the proposal inadequate and ordered the VA to cordon off the stadium and practice field until further notice from the court.

Following a four-week trial that ended earlier this month, Carter’s decision declared the UCLA lease illegal because its focus was not predominantly service to veterans.

Under a slightly different legal standard, he also invalidated leases to the nearby Brentwood School, an oil drilling operation and two parking lots for the same reasons, the Times said.

The class-action lawsuit alleged the VA had failed to provide adequate housing for veterans and that its leases at its 388-acre (157-hectare) campus in West LA violated an 1888 deed to the U.S. government for the “permanent maintenance” of a home for disabled soldiers.

Carter previously ordered the VA to produce 750 units of temporary housing and 1,800 units of permanent housing on the campus in addition to the 1,200 to 1,600 planned in connection with an earlier lawsuit.