18:26
Brief
People experiencing homelessness gather at First United Methodist Church on Spruce Street in Boulder near the Pearl Street Mall on April 28, 2021. (Derek Miles for Colorado Newsline)
The city of Boulder Friday responded in court to a lawsuit brought by unhoused residents represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado. The suit alleges that the city’s camping and tent bans violate the Colorado Constitution.
In the motion, the city defended the bans and requested the Boulder District Court dismiss the case.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
According to the lawsuit from the ACLU, the bans violate doctrines and constitutional provisions related to cruel and unusual punishment, state-created danger, freedom to use public streets, freedom to travel and freedom to remain.
Boulder’s camping ban leaves unhoused residents no alternatives, plaintiffs say
In the motion filed by Luis Toro, the attorney for Boulder and Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold, who is named as a defendant, he argued the bans are not cruel and unusual punishment and do not constitute a state-created danger. He wrote that unlike a similar ordinance disputed in Boise, Idaho, unhoused people can lawfully remain in Boulder public spaces.
Regarding sheltering in public spaces, the motion says that being “bundled in warm clothing is permitted” as long as a shelter is not used.
The motion says that the ACLU’s claim regarding a state-created danger towards unhoused residents is due to extreme weather and not “private violence.” It says the city does not place residents in danger, because the local shelter — Boulder Shelter for the Homeless — is the entity that denies their admittance, not Herold or the city.
The third alleged constitutional violation touches on the use of public spaces. The motion says freedom to travel does not give the right to “sleep, rest and recuperate.” Toro argued in the motion that disallowing encampments and “tent cities” preserves public spaces for others. According to the motion, allowing residents to camp outside when they are denied shelter access would permit them to do so permanently.
The motion was filed a few weeks after the ACLU submitted the initial complaint.
SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
Related News
