Blue City Hit With Lawsuit Over Homelessness Laws Following Landmark Supreme Court Decision
A Washington State city was hit with a lawsuit Thursday alleging its ban on public camping violates the state’s constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit against Spokane over its city…
A Washington State city was hit with a lawsuit Thursday alleging its ban on public camping violates the state’s constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit against Spokane over its city ordinances that consider it a misdemeanor to camp on public property. Spokane joins several other cities, such as San Francisco, that have started enforcing anti-camping laws following the landmark Supreme Court decision in June that determined such laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s clause against cruel and unusual punishment.
Similar laws banning homeless encampments faced legal challenges prior to the Court ruling but this is the first challenge since, according to The Associated Press.
Washington State’s constitution only bars “cruel punishment,” which Jazmyn Clark, ACLU director of Washington’s Smart Justice Policy Program, says the city’s law may violate.
“You do not need to show that such punishment is also unusual,” Clark told the AP, noting the difference between the argument against the state and the previous Supreme Court case.
“This Spokane case serves as another opportunity for