Street roots., April 29, 2016, Page 7, Image 7

Street Roots • April 29-May 5, 2016
News
Page 7
Portland groups divided on camping ban
they filed just one day prior to the filing of the
brief.
“While the issues in the two cases are
different,” said Curphey, “they are pushing the
city in different directions with regard to
enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance.”
The lawsuit, filed by Portland Business
Alliance, Cartlandia, Overlook and Pearl
BY E M IL Y GREEN
neighborhood associations and others, claims
STAFF WRITER
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales does not have the
authority to allow camping on city property
n April 21, several area civil rights
without the vote of City Council.
groups, charities and religious
It also argues his move to allow tent camping
organizations united to file an amicus
goes against a state statute that limits the
brief in the ongoing appeal of Alexandra Barrett,
number of city-sanctioned tent cities in any
a Portland woman who’s been fighting a slew of
given municipality to two, and that it goes
illegal camping charges and other misdemeanor
against city ordinances restricting the use of
offenses related to her homeless status since
tents for residential occupancy.
December 2014.
The amicus brief argues that enforcing
The brief is an add-on to the appeal, filed in
camping bans when there is no shelter available
February, which argues that to arrest and
is in violation of constitutional rights under the
prosecute a homeless person for sleeping
Eighth Amendment.
outside when there is no shelter space available
This argument mirrors a Department-of-
is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of
Justice-issued statement of interest released last
their constitutional rights.
summer in a lawsuit brought against the city of
“We’re saying that conviction should be
Boise, Idaho, by its homeless residents.
overturned because she didn’t have any
In both Boise and Portland, homeless people
opportunity to avoid violating the law,” said
are often turned away from shelters because
attorney Shauna Curphey, who submitted the
they are full, or because they do not meet
amicus brief on behalf of local chapters of
eligibility requirements, which make sleeping
National Lawyers Guild and American Civil
outside involuntary.
Liberties Union, as well as the Albina
Ministerial Alliance, First Unitarian Church of
The brief argues that as the Eighth
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is applied
Portland, Oregon Justice Resource Center,
to Oregon’s state constitution, “the state cannot
Operation Nightwatch and others.
One day after a lawsuit demanding
the city enforce its camping ban was
filed, local civil rights leaders issue a
brief calling the same ban cruel and
unusual
H
im p o s e a crim in al p e n a lty on an in dividu al b a se d
T h e b r ie f c a lls in t o q u e s tio n t h e
constitutionality of the very laws Portland
business groups and neighborhood associations
are demanding the mayor enforce in the lawsuit
on her involuntary status,” and “likewise cannot
be punished for conduct that is inseparable from
her involuntary status.”
The brief continued: “as a matter of survival,
homeless people in Portland cannot sleep
outside without the use of bedding, a sleeping
bag or other sleeping matter. Yet this is the very
activity that the anti-camping ordinance
prohibits.”
Should Oregon Supreme Court issue a
decision in favor of Barrett, Curphey explained
it would not strike down camping bans across
the board, but could be used as precedent in
future cases where a homeless person is
criminally prosecuted for camping when there
are no alternatives available.
(Street Roots Executive Director Israel Bayer
testified on behalf of the defense in Barrett’s
trial.)
Curphey said the amicus brief, which is a
legal document containing arguments and
additional information for the court to take
under advisement, was submitted in an effort to
expand the argument of cruel and unusual
punishment beyond the individual case of
Barrett to include all people experiencing
homelessness.
“We’re trying to make a point about the
broader implications of the decision that they
make in this case,” she said.
The brief included interviews with members
of Portland’s homeless population about the
difficulties in finding a place to sleep and the
need to use sleeping bags and tents or tarps to
protect themselves from the elements.
According to one of their interview subjects,
“Nothing makes you feel more homeless than
c a r ry in g a ro u n d y o u r sle e p in g b a g a n d h o t b e in g
able to find a place to sleep.”
emily@streetroots. org
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