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 us to build out those protections under our state constitution, which is more protective than its federal counterpart,” Clark told the AP.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a homeless individual and one previously homeless person who both faced penalties due to the city’s ordinance. Multiple city ordinances are being challenged, including some that bar homeless encampments within three blocks of a homeless shelter or ban lying on the sidewalk downtown after midnight.
Spokane has prosecuted at least 114 cases in 2024 regarding the encampment ordinances. The city has enforced a variation of the ordinance since 2014.
Spokane has seen a positive turn in its homeless population in recent years, reporting a 15% decrease between 2023 and 2024. Still, the city counted 2,021 homeless individuals on the streets in January.
Seattle, Washington holds the title of the city with the third highest homeless population in the country, according to US News and World Report. The city has implemented similar encampment bans which have proved to successfully cut crime rates, the Seattle Times reported.
The ACLU and the city of Spokane did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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