The city of Grants Pass was ordered by a Josephine County court on Monday to suspend enforcement efforts against homeless campers for a period of two weeks while a legal challenge is thoroughly examined.
In an effort to prevent Grants Pass from eliminating one of two approved homeless camps and limiting the hours of the other, Disability Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit last Thursday.
A temporary restraining order signed by Circuit Judge Brandon S. Thueson forbids the city from fining, ticketing, arresting, detaining, or otherwise punishing anyone for camping within the city for the next fourteen days.
According to the judgment, the city is also not allowed to force someone to vacate a campsite, remove a campsite (except from one that has been clearly abandoned for several days), or take any other action that would prevent someone from camping on property that has been designated as a park.
After hearing arguments for approximately an hour, the judge signed the order.
Disability Rights Oregon’s deputy legal director, Tom Swenson, commended the judge’s ruling.
According to Swenson, this emergency stop gives Grants Pass the chance to refocus its policy in a more sensible and beneficial way rather than endangering the lives of individuals with disabilities by preventing them from defending themselves against the February cold.
The Oregon Law Center and Disability Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit on behalf of five individuals, ages 47 to 66, who suffer from conditions ranging from vertigo to arthritis.
The Grants Pass City Council has mandated that all homeless individuals remain at two locations within the city since August. The council voted to close the largest of the two locations, known as the J Street site, in January in an effort to further restrict camping. According to the lawsuit, city officials estimated that there were about 120 tents at the site.
Simultaneously, the council limited overnight camping to the considerably smaller residual camp on Seventh Street. According to the suit, the location can accommodate about 30 tents and is frequently crowded.
Disability Rights Oregon estimates that between 300 and 400 persons camp in Grants Pass.
According to the lawsuit, closing one of the two permitted camping areas was against state law and was not objectively fair in terms of timing, location, and style.
According to Stenson, his advocacy group had repeatedly warned the city not to close one of the locations without offering a substitute.
“Now that a court order is in place, there are a few more teeth and a little more oomph,” he said.
“I hope the city makes some changes,” Swenson remarked.
We’re hoping they’ll take a more constructive course, he said. The idea isn’t that rules shouldn’t exist. The important thing is that the regulations must make sense.
The judge will probably convene another hearing to examine the next course of action, which would be a preliminary injunction that would prevent Grants Pass from enforcing its homeless restrictions for an extended period of time, if the city doesn’t change its policy.
The city’s attorney, Aaron Hisel, stated that he anticipates the City Council will make modifications, but he would not comment further on the restraining order.
The judge’s order comes after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer, which brought attention to the southern Oregon community and determined that limits on public camping in Grants Pass did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
— Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. You can contact her via [email protected], 503-221-8212, X@maxoregonian, or LinkedIn.
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