Father Jerome Karcher ℅ Mercy House, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Dear Father Karcher:

Why are we being punished? I’m not being facetious, although it sounds like it. And this is not a general query regarding Humanity vis a vis God. 

My specific query is this: why are the inhabitants of Bridges at Kraemer Place being subjected to having the lights left on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Please note that I’m asking on behalf of staff, security, and residents.

I’m not going to go deep into the well of data that demonstrates that 24/7 lighting – especially at night – disrupts human beings’ circadian rhythms, leading to increases in depression, irritability, brain fog, weight gain, increase in systolic blood pressure, and other health deficits. A quick search on Google will give you more on the subject than I could include in this letter. But here’s a few citations to get started: 

“Day and night light exposure are associated with psychiatric disorders.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-023-00135-8

“Health Consequences of Electric Lighting Practices in the Modern World” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5587396/

“Medical hypothesis: Light at night is a factor worth considering in critical care units.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8174656/

“Timing of light exposure affects mood and brain circuits.” https://www.nature.com/articles/tp2016262

“Light and Sleep.” https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/light-and-sleep

When I asked a staff member at Bridges why round-the-clock lighting was initiated last month, I was told it was a security and safety issue to cut down on shelter residents stealing from and/or possibly assaulting other residents. That sounds good on the surface, but it has flaws: 

1) Leaving lights on won’t eliminate theft or abuse; 

2) It will increase incidents of verbal and physical abuse, which will be the inevitable result of leaving lights on all day and all night, thus disrupting residents’ sleeping and waking cycles; 

3) It is a waste of electricity since the lights are left on even when exterior sunlight is more than sufficient to light the sleeping quarters and 

4) Its overall impact on the morale of residents will be highly negative, now and in the future, should this policy continue.

The practice of 24/7 lighting in jails and prisons has been controversial for decades: state courts in Pennsylvania and Washington state have ruled it a violation of the Eighth Amendment provision against “cruel and unusual punishment.” But while those courts found that twenty-four-hour lighting causes sleep deprivation, depression, and other serious disorders for incarcerated individuals, courts often do not consider it to be cruel and unusual punishment. And while jails and prisons represent involuntary confinement, shelter housing, by definition, is voluntary. Thus, so far, it has evaded Eighth Amendment judgment.

I have filed grievances with Bridges staff and OC Social Services; there has been no response as of this publication date. So, I have taken the further step of addressing the issue publicly. Granted, the Fullerton Observer pales in size and circulation beside the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times, but it does have a significant readership in the Fullerton/Anaheim/Buena Park corridor of North Orange County. So you might get letters. Then again, you might not. 

A further question is begged: Was this 24/7 lights-on policy initiated by Mercy House for all its owned and operated shelters, or has it been implemented at the behest of the county’s Continuum of Care Board? I cannot answer that question. Perhaps you can.

I am writing this open letter to you, Father Karcher, hoping you might take corrective action. You’re the founder of Mercy House; in a very real sense, the buck stops with you. If nothing changes in the next 30 days, I will contact other media outlets regarding this issue. And the point will be made, quite forcefully, that–in this respect–homeless people are being treated as badly, or worse, than prisoners. 

This may result in me being “exited” from Bridges. But as Martin Luther is said to have said, “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise.”

Sincerely, Andrew Williams